Obscured
by une-fan-de-la-liturature
Summary: As years pass, her loyalties have constantly changed. Her abilities are being stolen. All she knows is the life of crime she lives now. No matter how hard she tries, or how many different paths she takes, she can't escape the cycle she's been pulled into. Life for this kitsune is a tough one. Violence, language, stuff. It can get intense. Partial canon.
1. Discovery

**Hey so I'm back for a while with a new story! This one is a little different from my other ones, but I think it'll still be fun. I'm not sure when I'll actually be able to finish this one, but I will most likely finish it like I did with _Eventually an End_. **

**Anyway, I've had this idea for quite some time, but I never got around to writing it until now. Our leading lady, Nayamae (pronounced like Nay-om-ay), I've had as a character for years, but never actually put her into a story her on fanfiction.**

 **Well, without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 _4 Years after the Nine Tails Attack, 15 years of age._

Nayamae sat on the curb counting out the wad of money in her hand. "Dammit," she muttered, counting it a second time. "Those guys never give me enough." She shook her head and shoved the money in a hidden pocket of her sleeve.

She sat silently, watching the few people who inhabited the slum area, and thinking of the last weapons deal she made. She had never exactly been smart with numbers, nor did she know how to read very well, but she knew she had been chipped out on quite a bit of money for the weapons she stole. Although, it was to her benefit that she didn't argue any further.

Nayamae considered all of the food options she had available to her with the amount of money she now had, which honestly wasn't much, but it was something to fill her growling stomach. What she _really_ wanted was a cup of coffee: black, hot, and delicious. The tempting waft from the nearby coffee stand stung her like a punch to her empty gut. She got out the money in her pocket again, counting it and dividing up the bills for the right amount for the smallest cup possible. The rest of her money would be going to finding her a place to sleep for a few nights and what little food she could afford. As infrequent as these deals were, she tried to make the money stretch as long as possible.

After buying her coffee, Nayamae returned to her seat on the curb, savoring the dark taste of the scalding liquid. She moved her long, raven-black hair over her shoulder, covering her left side from the cold morning breeze. She closed her brown eyes as she enjoyed the coffee's taste and the warmth it was building in her hands.

"I don't want to interrupt your morning thoughts," a man's voice said behind her, "but you are looking a little lost."

Nayamae turned around to look at the man standing behind her. His skin was paper-white and his eyes held a mischievous snake-like appearance. He was dressed like a Leaf Shinobi, but she almost instantly deemed him untrustworthy. A venomous grin widened on his face as she regarded him.

"If you're looking for 'special company,'" she told him, turning back to her nearly empty coffee cup, "you're looking in the wrong place."

He shook his head and went to stand in front of her. "No, you misunderstand me," he said, blocking her view of the people she had been watching. He continued to smile wickedly. "I don't want any 'special company.' I'm looking for a certain kitsune. I hear she has near immeasurable skill with secrecy and thievery. I'm looking to hire her."

Nayamae looked at the strange man for a moment then scoffed, causing his smile to falter. "I don't know where you heard immeasurable skill, but if it's what people say, then I suppose it's true."

"Then you are her?" he asked, looking at her questioningly.

"Do you need proof?" she countered, setting her empty cup on the curb beside her.

He smiled again, sending chills down Nayamae's spine. "I have no need of that."

She eyed him suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"I could use you for something extremely important. Come," he waved, turning to walk away. "We can talk it over breakfast." He looked back at her. "You _are_ hungry, aren't you?"

As though on cue, Nayamae's stomach growled loudly. The offer of free breakfast _and_ a job sounded extremely good to her. She had no idea who this man was, nor did he ask who she was. Though, it seemed to her he knew who and what she was, making her feel unsure about trusting him in any way. Her stomach growled loudly again, prompting her to jump up and follow the man down the road. She had decided to trust him for now.

* * *

Orochimaru frowned at his newest test subject as she writhed on his experimenting table. "Oh, come now," he said with an annoyed sigh. "It shouldn't hurt that much."

Nayamae swallowed a cry rising from her throat and clenched her fists tightly, her wrists pulled against the restraints holding her down. Wherever he had made black seals on her skin, it had begun to burn. He had told her the seals were to help her accomplish the mission he had planned out for her; however, she suspected it was more than just enhancements to her abilities.

She had hardly been working for Orochimaru for a week when he began to use her as an experiment. She knew he was testing her abilities as a kitsune, and she despised him for it. However, it was too late to go back to her old, unsteady job now that she had worked for him for several months. The only benefits she regarded was a permanent place to stay and any money she received for completing assignments she was allowed to keep, allowing her to buy her own food. To her, this burning pain on her skin (compared to Orochimaru's other experiments) was only a small price to pay for the luxuries she now got to enjoy.

Finally (much to Nayamae's relief), Orochimaru released the seals from her skin so she relaxed her fists. He turned away from her to write something on a sheet of paper. "I need you to go and get these scrolls for me," he started, turning the paper around to show her what he had written. "Find the ones with these symbols on it."

Nayamae furrowed her brow, studying the symbols and trying to figure out what they meant. She hated it when he made her do something that required reading. He knew she barely could, but she had no choice but to go do what he wanted.

* * *

The archive library was quiet. Nayamae wasn't surprised by the lack of security this hour of the day in Konoha. With such fair weather, most people were at lunch or having an early afternoon nap. However, she didn't find sneaking into this building to be incredibly difficult in the first place. She figured with the information these scrolls must hold the security would be tighter, but the lack of security made her uneasy. Nobody had even spotted her on the roofs.

Before jumping down from the open window in the ceiling, she tied her hair into a long braid, pushing it behind her and out of her way. Her feet hardly made a sound when they hit the floor between the over-filled shelves. She reached into the satchel hanging from her shoulder and pulled out the now crumpled paper Orochimaru had given her. Smoothing it against the floor, she stared at the writing, etching it into her memory. She looked around her at the many shelves of scrolls in the large room, sighing heavily with the enormous task she now faced.

After what felt like an hour, Nayamae finally found the first scroll and shoved it triumphantly into her satchel. Since she had been staring at these symbols for quite some time, she began to recognize a few, making a little sense in their organization. The next few she found were a little easier to find since they were roughly in the same area. She had one final scroll to find when she heard a door nearby creak open and loud voices following. She cursed herself for not sensing anyone earlier.

Scrambling to hide behind a shadowed shelf, she prayed she would be able to avoid the two people she heard coming towards her hiding spot. She glanced up at the window she had left open in the ceiling, wondering how she would get through it without them noticing.

"I'm telling ya, ya never listen to my advice when ya want me to give it, so I don't understand why I continue to bother," the first male said.

"Yeah, but maybe if you actually said something worthwhile, I would listen!" said the other male. They both laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get those couple of scrolls and get back to work. The captain needs them for some research he's doing." The two men had stopped one aisle away from her hiding spot. She glanced up at the open window again, willing herself to take the chance to escape.

"Hey!" exclaimed the first man. Nayamae's heart jumped. "These aren't suppose to be missing! Nobody else has access to this place but us!" By that point, she knew it was too late to escape undetected. Quickly, she jumped up the shelves, using each shelf like rungs on a ladder to get towards the ceiling window.

"HEY! YOU! STOP!" ordered the second man, but he was too late.

Nayamae almost smiled as she escaped through the window and onto the roof. She heard shouts and raised alarms as she ran over people's roofs towards the outer rim of the village. She almost enjoyed the thrill of the chase, knowing that she wouldn't be caught. But she didn't understand _what_ it was she exactly stole. Obviously these scrolls were important, maybe even dangerous, but if they were so important, why were they so damn easy to take?

She had made it outside of the village when she finally sensed people following behind her. She didn't expect anymore than six to pursue her, but she was surprised to sense closer to twelve individuals. _Are these scrolls really that important?_ She wondered.

She knew the terrain outside of the village well, running swiftly on the tree branches. She had grown up running from the law so this chase was also nothing new to her. She even knew how and where to hide. Nayamae sensed only one individual had gotten any closer to her. Whoever they were, they were coming up fast, leaving everyone else behind to catch up. She jumped down to the ground, dodging the trees as she ran.

As she jumped to the ground, she heard the faint sound of a kunai cutting through the air and hitting a tree trunk above her. She felt her hair fall out of her braid as she continued to run. Whoever had thrown the small blade was now extremely close and accurate enough to cut the ends of her hair. She had no time to find a place to hide.

"STOP!" a man's voice shouted sharply behind her. She dared not to look back at him. She remembered some close calls for getting caught by the law, but never had they been _this_ close. "I order you to stop!"

Suddenly, the man tackled her to the ground, both of them rolling across the grass after impact. She tried to scramble away, but he was quicker, grabbing her by the ankle and pulling her towards him. She tried kicking at him, but he was still stronger than her. He held her down on her back, holding her wrists above her head while sitting on her middle. She was terrified to see an animal mask staring back at her. _Never_ in her life had she ever been caught. She had always taken the ANBU of Konoha to be untalented police dogs, yet here she was, looking into the feared eyes of a sharingan user. As quickly as she had recognized the sharingan, she had noticed he only had the sharingan in his left eye. In her moment of shock, she slowly became conscious of the position she was in and his eyes staring down at her.

As though realizing what he was doing, he shook his head and flipped her over to tie her hands behind her back. He pulled her up to her knees as his comrades appeared around them.

"Great work!" declared one of the other pursuers.

Through the hair that had fallen in front of her face, Nayame could see all of them were wearing similar animal masks. She couldn't tell who it was that had spoken. She felt someone take her satchel from around her shoulder and heard them going through it.

"All of the stolen scrolls are here," said another voice.

"Excellent. Let's get her back to the village." They forced her to her feet and pushed her forward, prompting her to walk.

As they made the silent trek back to Konoha, Nayamae wondered what was going to happen now. She feared the sharingan user that held onto her upper arm, making sure she wasn't going to escape. It wasn't fair of the ANBU to use someone with an eye such as his, she thought bitterly to herself. He had also purposely cut her beautiful black hair a few inches shorter. She had used her favorite (and last) ribbon to tie the braid too. In that moment she felt very ugly.

Nayamae also feared what Orochimaru would do when he discovered she had been arrested. He had trusted her to this mission and she had failed horribly. The thought made a shiver of terror run across her skin, penetrating deep into her bones. What about the seals he had done on her skin? Wasn't that supposed to help her? What were they for? It was too late for her to find out now that she could see the village gates. No matter what torture she could go through from the village, it certainly was no match for what Orochimaru would do to her when she returned to him.

Soon Nayame found herself sitting cuffed to a chair in front of a table. She had been told of interrogation rooms like this with the "good cop" and the "bad cop" routine. Whatever that meant. She looked around the mostly empty room, staring across at her reflection in the one-way glass. She tried to sense whether or not someone was watching her through the glass, but felt a pressure surrounding her instead.

"Don't bother trying to use any jutsus while you're in here," an older man stated tiredly as he suddenly walked through the door and sat in the chair across the table from her. "Those cuffs on your hands make sure they won't work." He leaned back in the chair, looking Nayamae over. The man with the single sharingan had followed behind the first man. He stood silently against the wall with his arms crossed, watching her intently through the animal mask. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, turning her gaze to the table.

The man across from her cleared his throat. "My name is Miro," he said, fingering at a folder in his hands. Nayamae stayed silent. "From some of the intel we've gathered on you, it says here," he said, opening the folder to the front page, "you've got quite the story. Or legend I should say. You're a kitsune. Part fox, part woman. Straight out of folklore." He sat up straight. "But that's not our focus today, is it?" Miro smiled, putting wrinkles on his face and revealing a set of crooked teeth. She felt his gaze even though she wasn't looking at him, her eyes fixed onto the table top. His smile quickly disappeared. "Why'd you do it? Why did you steal those scrolls?"

Nayamae kept her mouth shut, shaking with fear. She wasn't afraid of what Miro or the sharingan user could do to her, she was more terrified of what Orochimaru would do if she said anything. Miro continued to berate her with questions. "Who do you work for? What were the scrolls for? How did you find out about them? How did you manage to get them undetected?" She wished he would just shut up. What excuse could she give to justify her theft?

Finally, Miro leaned back in his chair, apparently done with this first barrage of questions. He pulled out a piece of paper from the folder, pushing it in front of her so she could see it. "There, if you want to read your charges from today, go ahead."

Nayamae glared at the paper and then up at him. "I have no interest in answering any of your questions," she growled, spitting at him.

Miro wiped his face, meeting her glare. "You have no idea how much trouble you're in, do you? Do you not realize what you tried to steal? What information you could have leaked to an enemy of our village?" His voice rose with each question.

"I have no Leaf headband. I am loyal to no village, much less yours," she declared distastefully. Nayamae felt her blood rising, her wrists straining against the metal of the cuffs.

The sharingan user took a defensive stance as the cuffs themselves broke. "Miro, leave now!" he ordered, raising his mask to reveal his eye. The older man stood from his chair but was thrown against the wall with the table Nayamae had flipped over. The younger held her hands away from his face as she jumped at him. He noticed her nails were longer and sharper than they were a few minutes ago, but it was her eyes that surprised him the most. Instead of their normal brown, they had turned red. He was struggling against her strength; this small woman was pushing him across the floor. Where had this sudden strength come from?

The man hadn't wanted to use his eye to restrain her, but it seemed as though he had no other choice. A quick look in her eyes with the sharingan and she immediately went slack, falling into his arms.

"Ow…" Miro said, sitting up from behind the broken table. "What the hell just happened? Are you alright, Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded, carefully laying Nayamae on the floor. "I have no idea what that was. She didn't fight that much when we arrested her." He looked over at the other man. "Your cheek is bleeding," he commented.

Miro touched a hand to his cheek. "Oh. Thanks."


	2. Mercy

**I know, two chapters in one day right? Super weird, but I have the chapters all lined up and ready to post, I just have to get around to doing that before I leave for the next few months.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Nayamae awoke lying on a hard surface. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, holding her thumping head. "Ugh…" She looked around and found she had been moved to a cell. The cell was stone with a single sink, toilet, and bed against the walls. Metal bars kept her inside.

"That was quite the show you just pulled," a man's voice said at the bars. Nayamae recognized his voice as the sharingan user. "What _was_ that?" he asked.

"None of your business," she replied sharply, turning towards him. She looked him over. His arms were crossed as he stared at her, expression unfazed by her bitterness. She thought it was silly of him to still be wearing another mask that hid his face while his Leaf headband covered the sharingan eye. His animal mask hung on a clip over his left hip.

"You just added onto your list of charges. Not only theft, but also assault. Did you not see the extensive list?" Nayamae glared daggers at him as it slowly dawned on him. "Oh," he said with gradual realization. "You can't read, can you?" Despite herself, she shook her head, avoiding his gaze. "Huh. No wonder you lashed out."

"I'm not afraid of you," she spat.

He shook his head. "I don't think fearing me is necessary. You're afraid of something, or rather, someone else. Who is it? The person who hired you?" Nayamae kept her mouth shut. She was being interrogated again. "Listen, Nayamae, if you cooperate, whatever sentence you get will be waived some. It's better for you to talk than to not."

She smiled, laughing quietly to herself. "No," she said, shaking her head. "No, it isn't."

"Then why don't you tell me what those scrolls were for? Let's start there," he prompted.

She continued to shake her head. "I can't read. How am I supposed to know what those scrolls were for? You should congratulate me though," she stated, causing him to crease his brow in confusion. "An illiterate kitsune managed to steal literature that was supposed to be heavily guarded."

"Yet which one of us is inside a jail cell?" He sighed heavily as she glared at him again. "Here," he said, opening a slot in the bars and reaching out of Nayamae's sight to grab a bowl and chopsticks. He passed the bowl of noodles through the slot. "Eat."

She looked at the meal suspiciously, but took it anyway. Placing the chopsticks between her fingers, she stirred through the noodles. Other than a peeled boiled egg, she found nothing but noodles and broth. After tasting it, she decided it wasn't that bad, but could have used a little less salt. She sat eating in silence while the man continued to watch her through the bars of the cell.

"Are you just going to watch me eat?" she asked him, feeling annoyed. "Or is there more you want to ask me?" She shoved more noodles in her mouth. "Actually, first, I wanna know your name," she said through chewing. "You know mine."

"Kakashi."

Nayamae nodded, seemingly approving of his name. "Nice of you to introduce yourself first before asking me invading questions."

"It wasn't important," he argued.

"Milo-whats-his-name seemed to think so."

Kakashi rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I think we're done for now. You need to have better answers than what you gave me the next time you're questioned."

She laughed mockingly. "Sure! And I'll knit a sweater with these chopsticks and the threads from this blanket while I wait!" She spit at his feet. Without another word, Kakashi turned and left, slamming the nearby door shut on his way out. Nayamae shook her head and finished eating her noodles, leaving the egg for last.

* * *

After several hours of being left alone with nothing to keep her occupied, Nayamae half considered actually trying to knit a sweater using the chopsticks and the fraying blanket. She had just picked up the chopsticks from out of the bowl when she heard the door from down the hall open and close. Quickly, she put the chopsticks down and went to the bars to see who was coming towards her. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

"Kabuto!" she exclaimed, recognizing him despite his disguise. "What are you doing here?" She answered her own question before he did: he was here to get her and take her back to Orochimaru. A wave of dread fell over her.

"Releasing our kitsune from jail, of course!" Kabuto replied obviously, pulling out a ring of keys. "Lord Orochimaru wants to see you right away," he said, unlocking the door and letting her out.

"Of course he does," Nayamae muttered to herself more than to him. "It's not _that_ urgent, is it?"

Kabuto looked at her. "He's impatient at this time. Testing what little patience he has left is definitely not worth a try." She hung her head. "Don't feel so bad. This is the first time you've failed him in quite some time. It'll be fine," he assured her, cupping her face with his hands. Nayamae tried to give a convincing smile.

* * *

Nayamae didn't feel that Kabuto lied to her, she felt Kabuto just didn't _know._ As soon as he shut the door to the lab behind him, she was at Orochimaru's mercy. The first hit didn't hurt as much as the next several that followed. She had begged him to listen between the hits, but he wouldn't have it.

"I didn't say anything!" she cried helplessly, attempting to use her arms to block him from hitting her face. "They didn't learn anything!"

Orochimaru clenched his teeth and threw her to the ground, holding a foot on her throat. "You think they didn't learn _anything?!_ " he roared, putting pressure on her neck as she struggled against him. "They know what to guard now! It doesn't matter if you _said_ a word!" He removed his foot from her throat, causing her to choke in air. He kicked her, making sure she would stay on the ground. "You _failed_. You're lucky I haven't killed you by now!" he exclaimed between kicks.

Nayamae pushed herself up to her knees, still catching her breath after he had finished releasing his anger. Her face and chest ached where he had kicked her. Her nose dripped blood down her face and onto the floor. She felt Orochimaru grab hold of her hair, dragging her across the stone floor towards a closet. She cried out in pain, reaching for his arm to relieve the tension from her head. He had practically thrown her into the closet, shutting the door behind her. There was no need to lock the door; there was no door knob from the inside.

"Let me out!" she cried, slamming her hands against the wood. "LET ME OUT!"

It was dark in the closet except for the light coming between the door and the floor. It was extremely small, hardly any room for her to even be able to lie comfortably. Nayamae swore the walls were closing in on her, causing her to cry out even more. Between her hitting the door and her voice, Nayamae didn't hear the hissing of multiple snakes quickly coming towards her. She screamed loudly when they slithered underneath the door, giving no warning before biting at her ankles. Her blood immediately felt like it was on fire from the snakes' venom. Her head felt dizzy, making her lose her balance and fall inside the closet, hitting her head on the wall and floor with a loud thump. Her vision went black.

* * *

 _One Year before the Nine Tails attack, 10 years of age._

"Abba!" Nayamae yelled from outside her home. "Abba, come look! Come look!" Her urgent call prompted the response of the very muscular man to run outside.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, coming up beside where the child crouched.

"Look at this weird bug," she said with a giggle, holding a colorful caterpillar up to his mustached face. "Isn't it gross?"

Abba forced a smile. "Yes, Naya, it's very gross," he replied, moving her hand away from his face. "Put him over there on the bush so he doesn't get squished."

"Yes, Abba," she obeyed, setting it on one of the leaves. She continued to crouch, closely watching the caterpillar inch its way down the stem.

Abba was constantly surprised at this girl's innocence. After surviving the horrors of the war and being orphaned because of it, he was surprised she hadn't been hardened by her harsh reality. She must have been too young to understand, he figured. Nayamae knew this man wasn't actually her father, but rather someone who had picked her up off the streets before human traffickers could. With no one around to watch her, the criminal decided she may be useful to him with his weapons and drug trading. This was better for her than being sold to anyone, he reasoned. Being a man such as himself (with the outward appearance of a bear), he was extremely surprised to be so gentle towards this little girl. Abba certainly was too soft for his own good.

Abba went back inside the house. Although, he wouldn't have really called it a house rather than a two room shack. The outside of the house looked as if no one had done any maintenance on it in years. (Abba kept it this way incase someone came looking for him and would think nobody was living there). The inside, however, was furnished quite nicely, but sparingly. The wood floors were clean, yet the fire pit was full of ash. Off to the left side was a short table with two cushions and a rug underneath. Beneath the rug was a secret door to a small cellar, big enough to store a bit of Abba's "product" with plenty of room to spare. (Nayamae had been instructed to hide in there incase something ever happened). Against the far wall was multiple shelves and drawers for various items Abba kept out of Nayamae's reach. To the right of the firepit were sliding doors that opened to where they slept.

Minutes later, Nayamae came crashing into the house. "Abba!" she cried, holding something brown and furry up to him. "Abba, we have to help it!"

He looked down at the injured rabbit in her hands, its leg badly twisted. He frowned. "I dunno, Naya," he said sadly, kneeling down to her level. "It doesn't look like he's doing too good."

"But, Abba…!" she sniffled. "I didn't mean to chase him to break his leg!"

He was taken aback for a moment. "Chase? What were you chasing him for?"

Nayamae shrugged. "I thought it would be fun, I suppose," she replied, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

Abba sighed heavily, stroking her disheveled black hair. "Here. Let's at least make him comfortable." He stood and went to find a small box, putting a dish towel in the bottom of it as a cushion. She set the rabbit carefully onto the towel, cooing softly at it.

Much to Nayamae's dismay, the rabbit didn't survive for much longer. Abba had to comfort her for a few minutes, but as soon as he suggested making stew with the rabbit, she cheered up. With her stomach full of stew, Nayamae crawled from the table to her bed, curling up comfortably in the heavy blanket and falling asleep quickly. Abba stayed awake cleaning up their dinner and was soon snoring loudly by the girl's side.

* * *

Nayamae awoke in the middle of the night, feeling as though someone was coming rapidly towards their house. She never understood this feeling. She had asked Abba about it once and he gave her a confusing reply; something about everyone having a thing called chakra and some people are able to sense other people's chakra. It was something shinobis always used. She had no idea what chakra was or what it had to do with her feeling other people's presence when she couldn't see them.

"Abba!" Nayamae whispered, moving from beneath his arm and shaking his shoulder to wake him. "Abba! Wake up! Somebody's coming!"

Abba was awake immediately. "How many are there?" he asked urgently.

The girl paused, holding out her fingers to count how many she sensed. "Three!" she announced, feeling proud of herself for remembering the number.

"Come, Naya," he ordered, leading her towards the secret door under the table. "Hide in here. Don't come out until I get you, okay?" He went to shut the door.

"Abba, wait!"

"What is it?"

"Can I have a light…?"

He went to a nearby shelf and grabbed his lighter. "Use this, but try to keep it off for as long as you can, okay?" She nodded, taking the lighter from him. He kissed her forehead and helped her into the cellar. "Stay here and keep quiet." He shut the door with a soft click.

She could hear him pulling the rug over it and setting the table on top of that. It was quiet in the room above her now. She could sense that the three intruders were right outside the house now. She imagined they were looking in through the windows, with dripping fangs and wide, bulging eyes. She gasped, scaring herself with the image. She sensed Abba was standing still, a weapon in hand to defend himself.

Silently, Nayamae cheered Abba on as the sounds of battle came from beyond her hiding place. She could paint a picture in her mind of what was happening based on where she sensed the intruders were in the house. Two of them had attacked Abba straight on while the third began ransacking their shelves and drawers, looking for anything to steal. Abba had thrown one of the intruders away from him, causing him to land on the small table, breaking it to pieces. Nayamae gasped at the loud crash above her head. Her mouth stayed open in horror as she _felt_ the man's soul leave his body.

The other intruder had finished his search, turning his attention to helping his comrade fight off Abba. Abba had shoved the second attacker's face into the pile of coals, making him cry out in pain as he breathed in hot ashes and burned his skin. He blindly ran away from the house. His comrade came at Abba with more ferocity, attacking while he wasn't looking. This foe turned out to be stronger than Abba expected. After several minutes of fighting, this opponent had severely wounded him, leaving him to die on his front step. Abba had crawled his way back into the house, trying to keep from bleeding out. Before losing consciousness, he had managed to sear most of his wounds shut by heating a blade in the coals. His last effort to get to his little girl left him lying unconscious beside the corpse of the man on the shattered table.

It was silent above her for too long. "Abba...?" Nayamae called out experimentally. She knocked her fist on the cellar door above her. "Abba?" She sensed him just outside the cellar door, so why wasn't he coming to her? She paused feeling something warm and wet on her hand. She felt more warm liquid had begun to drip heavily onto her face. She pulled out the lighter from her pocket, flicking it on with her thumb. Blood was leaking through the door, dripping onto her and down the wall. She looked at her hand where she had hit it, seeing the deep, red color. The iron smell invaded her nose all at once, causing her to fall back in the cellar. The lighter went out when she let go of it, losing it in the dark. She screamed in terror.

"ABBAAAA!" she cried, hitting the door with her fists as hard as she could. She tried using her shoulder to lift the door open. Blood continued to rain down on her as her efforts failed to lift the dead man off the door to let her out. "ABBA, PLEASE! HELP ME! AAAABBAAA! HELP!" She felt as though the walls of the cellar were getting closer to her, the smell of the blood getting stronger, her attempts to get help weakening. She pressed herself against the walls, trying to keep them from crushing her between them. "ABBA!"

Nayamae was trapped in the cellar for hours. She felt as though she would never get the stench of blood out of her nose. Eventually, she found the lighter she had lost, immediately flicking it on. She sat in the corner away from the bloody door, burning her fingers by holding down the lighter switch for so long.

She did not hear the sounds of Abba moving the dead man off of the door, nor did she hear the creak of the door as it opened. He took the lighter from her hands, picked her up, and carried her out of the cellar. He hardly noticed, or at least didn't mention, the blood that drenched her hair and clothes. She clung tightly to him as they walked out of the house and into the early morning air.

* * *

 **Aww poor thing. I hope you have enjoyed this so far. Please leave me a review telling me what you think!**


	3. Loyalties

**Hello, I'm back again! Sorry to have been gone for so long (even though that certainly wasn't the longest I've been away). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter in this story!**

* * *

Nayamae flinched when the door to the closet was opened, the sudden bright light blinding her momentarily. She hadn't really cared that she was lying in a pool of her own vomit, or that every muscle in her body ached, or even that she had dried blood down her face. She was unsure how long she had been in the closet, but it certainly felt like a long time.

Kabuto helped her off the floor, her arm over his shoulders, leading her down several halls to her own room. He helped her clean off the blood and vomit before treating what remained of her injuries.

"Wow," Kabuto commented, checking her torso as they sat on the edge of her bed. "After just twelve hours, the bruises on your ribs are almost healed already. I believe that's quicker healing than last time." Nayamae stayed silent, letting him finish his examination. She winced when he touched her neck which still felt tender and sore. "You even managed to heal yourself of poisoning. Not without having a few side effects though."

She sighed heavily, carefully pulling a clean shirt over her head. "Is my nose at least on straight?" she asked, looking at him straight on.

He smiled. "It's just fine. Still a little bit of blood though," he noted, handing her a cloth to clean it off.

"Thanks," she muttered softly, wiping her nose. She felt exhausted. "Are you done with your examination?" she asked after a few moments of silence passed between them.

"Oh, uh, yes. I am." Kabuto stood, gathering his things. He paused, pushing his glasses up. "Did you want me to finish healing your ribs? Or your neck?"

She shook her head, causing her neck some pain she immediately regretted. "That's not necessary. Save your chakra for something else."

"Alright. Get some rest. You need it."

"Don't need to tell me twice," she replied, lying down on her bed as he left the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

* * *

 _3 days after Nayamae's arrest_

Kakashi frowned at his drink. "But I thought she escaped? I don't understand," he said, looking up at Hiruzen.

"She did. More or less." Hiruzen took a sip from his own drink, earning a confused look from his younger colleague. "We let her escape, but we don't know who let her out."

"Well don't just sit there and be vague about it," Kakashi chastised. "What are we going to do?"

"Nothing."

"You're kidding," he said in disbelief.

Hiruzen shook his head. "The only thing we are doing is watching them. We watch the kitsune to see what Orochimaru is up to. Intel is scarce, but we've caught word of Orochimaru performing more human experimentation." Kakashi grimaced. "If we can get the kitsune to tell us where he's being doing this, we may be able to catch him red-handed. Other than that, we can't do anything until we know more."

Kakashi nodded. "That's something." He thought back to Nayamae. He didn't remember seeing anything unusual about her physical body. It was only when she attacked him that she appeared peculiar. "But why not track down her rescuer to find out what Orochimaru is doing?"

"We haven't been able to identify who that is. It's better we use her. Plus, it's easier to track someone with a unique chakra pattern." Hiruzen poured himself more to drink.

"But you let her escape? How can we get anything out of her now?" It was obvious he did not approve of this plan.

Hiruzen laughed. "Oh, Kakashi, you worry too much. Wait until those drinks you've had have gone through your system. You'll feel better in the morning."

Kakashi continued to frown as he dismissed himself, saying good-night to Hiruzen.

* * *

Kakashi awoke the next morning feeling as though he hadn't slept at all, but it had nothing to do with what he had drunk the night before. He got up and dressed, leaving his apartment to go clear his head. After his habitual visit to the memorial, he went outside the village gates to a nearby lake to sit on the shore. The still water calmed his buzzing mind as he stared across to the other side. A gentle, warm breeze blew through the trees that surrounded the lake, ruffling his hair to the opposite side of his head. He took a deep breath, attempting to relax in the shade of a tree.

He was frustrated that Nayamae had been set free after she had hardly been in custody for a full day. He suspected there was more to her criminal activities than just her ties with Orochimaru. There were so many questions he wanted to ask; mostly to get information out of her about what she had done for Orochimaru, but a few were questions he had about herself. Her file said she was a kitsune, but he had only known of kitsunes to be characters in old folklore. A folklore was typically untrue and only used to teach children good and bad behavior. He had genuine curiosity towards her and only wanted his questions answered.

Kakashi's first day off in weeks was not moving quickly enough for him. He needed something to do. Standing up, he began to search for flat rocks to skip across the water. He found several, putting them into his pocket to collect before throwing them. After finding a good pocketful, he watched as each rock sailed across the lake, skipping close to the middle of the water. As he watched, he noticed figures on the other side of the lake, chasing after someone. He didn't think much of them as they ran out of sight, turning his attention to the ground to look for more flat rocks.

He looked up again as he heard shouts and jeers getting louder. Suddenly, someone came running at him, nearly running him over. He caught her arm before she fell to the ground. Kakashi was surprised. "You!"

"You!?" Nayamae echoed, catching her balance. "Man, this day could not get any worse!"

"Where'd the bitch go?" someone called loudly. "Come here, little foxy!"

Nayamae looked towards the direction of the voice, instantly trying to wrestle her arm out of Kakashi's grip. "Please! You have to let me go!"

Kakashi looked at her suspiciously, keeping a strong hold on her. "How do I know you didn't steal anything from these people?" He eyed the katana hanging from her hip. He didn't remember her having one before.

"Ow! Because if I did, I would have been dead a long time ago!" she replied hurriedly. "Now please! Let me go! Or hide me! Something!"

It was too late. The trio that had been chasing her had found the duo. "Oh, there you are!" said the man in the middle. He brushed his short, yellow hair out of his equally yellow eyes. "We'll be taking her off your hands," he said, smiling.

Kakashi looked between the three of them. They were all heavily armed with various swords and other weapons. The man to the right was large and dark skinned, his dark hair pulled back with a green bandana. Still out of breath from the chase, his chest heaved up and down as he attempted to look intimidating. The woman on the left didn't look much older than Kakashi himself, but had obviously tried to cover her face with enough make-up to appear older. None of them wore a village headband, so Kakashi suspected their loyalties were similar to Nayamae's. He didn't like them at all.

Kakashi pushed Nayamae behind him, much to her surprise. He continued holding on to her, but had loosened his grip some. "Why should I just hand her over?" he asked.

"Listen, we don't want much trouble," yellow eyes started, putting his hand up.

"Ki, this man is a part of ANBU," the woman interrupted, pointing at the swirling tattoo on Kakashi's upper arm.

"Well, Liza," said the man on the right, "I guess that means we can't let him escape."

"He now knows our faces as well, Yoshi. We'll see what Shinjou can do with the two of them back home," said Ki, pulling out two of his swords.

"Run!" Nayamae hissed in Kakashi's ear as he drew out a kunai. "What are you doing?! Run, I said!"

"You're coming with me!" he hissed back. "I still have questions for you."

She rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous! I can take care of myself here! Just go!"

"That's not the issue!" Kakashi argued, barely dodging a blow from Liza as she ran at him from his blindspot. He had let go of Nayamae's arm to keep blocking Liza's attacks.

Nayamae had drawn her own katana from its hilt, blocking a strike from Ki. With each clash of their blades, she noticed he was pushing her further towards the lake. She growled and bared her teeth at him as her feet splashed in the water.

Ki smiled widely. "Can't use your fire if you're wet, little fox! How about a quick swim?" he taunted. She growled again, pushing against him, but with hardly any effect. Her feet were sinking into the mud. "Time for a swim!" Ki announced, swinging his foot around and kicking her into the water with a cold splash. She raced to get back up and grab her katana before it was lost beneath the water, but Ki had his swords crossed at her neck, making her freeze. She felt the hilt of her sword right at her fingertips.

"Don't move. Move and your ANBU friend is dead," Ki warned. She glanced over where Kakashi had been fighting Liza and Yoshi, finding him unconscious on the ground at Yoshi's feet, his own kunai at his throat.

"You make a hard bargain," Nayamae said with a small laugh. She slowly put her hands up in reluctant surrender. He grinned at her defeat.

"Don't worry about your katana," he said. "I'll get it before we leave." He turned his own sword around in his hand, hitting her across the head with the hilt.

* * *

Nayamae slowly opened her eyes, finding she had been unceremoniously tossed over Yoshi's shoulder. Her bound hands bounced against his back with every step he took. Her head throbbed, the pain increasing as her vision cleared. To her right, she saw Kakashi was also tossed over Yoshi's other shoulder, but was still unconscious. She wondered how a ninja, such as himself, could have been defeated seemingly so easily.

"Yoshi," Nayamae said painfully, "let me walk."

"Oh, you're awake. Ki, what do you think?" Yoshi asked, calling to his companion who was walking ahead of him. "Let her walk? This guy is heavier than she is."

"If she's awake enough to do it. Liza, keep hold of her," Ki ordered.

Yoshi stopped and let Nayamae slip from his shoulder, not bothering to be careful as she fell. She stood up slowly, finding it only a little difficult to keep her balance. She felt light headed, but could feel the pain of her head decreasing as the injuries healed.

They walked on in silence. Nayamae already knew where they were going. These three worked for a heartless woman by the name of Shinjou. She had run into her plenty of times with Abba. Abba had long tried to get her to work with him within the weapons trades to increase profits, but she was very selfish. Shinjou had long hated the two of them.

"What's Shinjou going to think when you three bring back an ANBU member from the Leaf Village?" Nayamae asked with a sly smile. "I don't think she'd be very happy you brought a police officer to her home. Especially so uninvited."

Ki stopped and looked between Liza and Yoshi. "We don't have any reason to kill him," he replied nonchalantly.

"Besides," said Liza with a shrug, "it's not like he knows where we're going. He won't be awake unless we say so."

Nayamae cocked her head. "Then why even bring him along with?"

"He'll know the ins and outs of Konoha," Yoshi replied, adjusting Kakashi on his shoulder. "He can tell us how to best smuggle things in and out."

Nayamae began to laugh so hard she fell to the ground. "You're kidding, right? Ki? Liza?" She laughed more, trying to compose herself. "Hell, I could have done that for you. You probably won't even be able to get anything out of him. They're trained that way, you know."

"Listen, kitsune," Ki said, suddenly pointing a sword in her face. "If Shinjou wants to get that information out of him then so be it. If she wants you as a plaything to beat around every so often, then that's what will happen. Shinjou gets what she wants." He lowered the blade to her throat, pressing it hard against her skin. "In the meantime, shut-up until we get there." Nayamae glared at him, but kept her mouth shut. They continued to walk on.

* * *

Kakashi awoke to someone slapping his face. "Hey, Kakashi. Wake up. You aren't dead, are you?" He looked up into Nayamae's brown eyes. "Oh, good. You're not. Great predicament you've gotten us into," she said sarcastically as she sat down on the floor across from him with a heavy sigh. "If you had just run when I said to, we wouldn't be literally down a hole right now."

Kakashi creased his brow. "What are you…?" he began to ask as he looked up. She was right. The walls of the hole were easily 40 meters high. A net was strewn across the top, keeping them trapped inside. Past the net, he could see the sun was beginning to set with the changing of the colors. "Where are we?"

"I said," Nayamae replied sharply, curling up against the opposite wall, "literally down a hole. You don't remember coming here do you?" He shook his head. "Good. It's better that you don't." She wouldn't look at him.

He stared at her, curious as to why she seemed so mad at him. "Are you saying that _I_ was the one who got us put down here?" Sighing again, Nayamae pulled off one of her shoes and threw it at him. "Hey!"

"Yes, it's _your_ fault! If you hadn't been holding my arm I would have been able to take them out myself!"

He tossed the shoe back to her. "Why didn't you do it before you ran into me?" he argued.

"I was trying to find a safe place to do it," she replied, glaring at him. "I didn't want to hurt anybody besides them."

"Do what?"

"This." Nayamae held out her hand, her palm facing up. Slowly, a small flame began to grow in her hand. After it had grown to the size of a small ball, she grimaced, quickly clenching her hand into a fist, extinguishing the light. She held her fist to her chest. "It's called kitsunebi. I didn't want to hurt anyone with that."

Kakashi stared at her fist. "That's amazing! How do you do that?"

"Not easily," she said quietly, opening her hand again to examine it.

He thought about it for a moment. "Was that something Orochimaru gave you? One of the experiments he did to you?"

She looked at him in surprise, but her expression soon changed to a mixture of pain and anger. "No. I've had this skill for as long as I can remember. He has taken it away from me." She avoided looking at him again, going back to examining her hand.

Kakashi sat against the wall behind him. He vaguely remembered something about some kitsunes being able to control fire, but he wasn't sure what he could trust from old folklore. "Tell me something," he started, but she interrupted him.

"If you're going to ask me questions about Orochimaru, I'm not going to tell you anything about him." She had put her shoe back on.

He shook his head. "No. I won't ask you about him this time."

"Then what?" she challenged.

Kakashi's mind raced to find the first question he wanted to ask. He wished he had written them down somewhere. He wondered whether he should ask about herself first, or about her ties with Orochimaru, or about her ties with the people who chased her, or why they had been put down in this hole in the first place.

"Why were the three of them chasing you?" he asked, finally deciding on a question. "They were the ones who put us down this hole right?"

"More or less," she replied. "They work for a woman named Shinjou. She was an old… colleague, I guess you could say. Never did like me."

"What does Shinjou want?"

Nayamae shrugged. "She wants me dead as far as I know. Why I'm still alive is an even bigger mystery." A long silence passed between them.

"You know," Kakashi began, "I never have heard of a real-life fairy tale."

She looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You're a kitsune right? Part fox, part woman?" She nodded. "Then, does that mean all the other folklore characters exist?" She nodded again. "So, then are you like a bakeneko? You can change yourself into a fox?"

"It's very difficult now and takes a lot of energy. Sort of an 'emergencies only' type thing."

His mind was soaking up this information from her. He racked his brain trying to remember what else he knew about kitsunes, which wasn't much. He was about to ask her another question when Kakashi noticed she looked extremely tired. Whether that was from being chased or from creating kitsunebi, he wasn't sure. She was curled up against the wall again, her eyes closed. He looked up, seeing stars through the net instead of the orange colors he saw earlier. The temperature was dropping quickly in the pit.

Kakashi shivered as he suddenly remembered something he had read about kitsunes. They were only capable of being loyal to a single person. Was Orochimaru that person for her? "Nayamae, who are you loyal to?" The words were out of his mouth before he could put more thought into it.

Immediately, she opened her eyes and looked over at him. "What do you mean?" Her tone asked him to explain himself for asking such a question rather than to clarify the meaning of his words.

He went ahead with his curiousity. "Isn't it that kitsunes can only be loyal to one person at a time? Is that why you're so defensive about Orochimaru?"

Nayamae glared at him. "You can be loyal to different people in different ways," she answered sharply. "You ask too many questions." She turned away from him again, avoiding his gaze.

He stayed silent, shivering again. There was nothing here to keep either of them warm. No blankets or anything to start a fire. Kakashi thought about making one himself using his chakra, but concluded it would be a waste. He didn't know when he might need it since they had taken all of his physical weapons. He looked over at Nayamae again, wondering how she wasn't shivering like he was. In the darkness, she appeared to already be asleep.

In actuality, she was far from sleeping. Nayamae worried what Orochimaru would think if he knew where she was. He had already punished her before for getting caught by the ANBU, but what would he do if she didn't return to him in time? _He would leave me behind,_ she thought sadly. _He would leave me to die. But… he promised me…!_ She closed her eyes tightly, shutting out any tears.

Kakashi was engulfed in his own thoughts as well. He felt his knowledge on criminal activities outside of the Leaf was fairly low. Though it was technically his day off, the opportunity he had to investigate this organization, whoever they were, was something he could not ignore. On some level, he was following the Third's orders to watch the kitsune. She was involved in more than just being a lab rat for Orochimaru. There was more information she knew, yet refused to tell him. He was determined to figure it out.

* * *

 **More answers will be given next chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Help

Kakashi awoke quickly, realizing he had had the nightmare about Rin again. His arm was outstretched in front of him, as though he still hadn't pulled his arm out of her chest. The sound of chirps still rang in his ears. Rin's voice echoed through his mind. It was still dark, roughly early morning, he guessed. The memories of the day before danced in his head, reminding him of where he was. He sat up on the pit floor, looking around in the growing light. He didn't see Nayamae at first, but felt her arm around him, falling from his chest to his waist as he sat up. Her skin felt unusually warm as he carefully moved her arm to avoid waking her; however, he swore she had fallen asleep across the room from him.

He shook his head, not sure what to think about her. He realized though, that while he had been shivering almost non-stop, she slept soundly, not even bothered by the cold. Did her kitsunebi keep her from freezing? It made some sense. But still, she had slept next to him to keep him warm. _She had been angry with me,_ he thought. _Why would she sleep beside me?_

He stayed awake, pacing on the floor, wondering how they were going to escape from the pit. He had already climbed up the walls to examine the net, finding someone had also put metal spikes across it. The sour smell wafting from the spikes told him they were poisonous. He sighed irritably and went back to the bottom of the pit where Nayamae had just awakened.

"Anything interesting up there?" she asked with a yawn.

"Not especially," he replied. He watched her run her fingers through her hair. "Tell me what you know about these people," he demanded after several minutes. "You said this woman Shinjou was an old colleague. A colleague in what? How do you know her?"

"You never are off the job are you?" she asked, braiding her hair over her shoulder.

"Just answer me," he said irritably. He did not feel like letting her avoid his questions again.

She paused in braiding her hair to look up at him. "You're very pushy, you know that?"

He kneeled in front of her, coming down level with her. "I'm not playing your game again, fox. You'll answer me or I'll make you talk," he threatened, lifting his headband.

She glared at him, finishing the braid. "Fine, but put that thing away," she said, pointing to his sharingan. He pulled his headband back down. "If you were wondering, Orochimaru has no connections to Shinjou, at least none that I know. She mainly deals in weapons trading, but does dabble in drug trades. She's selfish and cruel. She only cares about herself, her son, Ryu, and her profits. However, Ryu is nothing like her."

"How long have you known her?"

She thought for a moment. "Since I was eleven. My father knew her long before I came along."

Kakashi sat down in front of her. "Your father, does he do the same types of trading?"

Nayamae shook her head. "He did."

"And you learned the trade from him?"

"Everything I know."

"But he didn't teach you how to read."

She glared at him again. "There was no time. Plus, it's mostly unimportant anyway. I know what I need to and that gets me around."

Kakashi shook his head, not knowing what to think about her. He sighed heavily, turning his head up to look out. "Well, how about we get out of here? I think I have an idea on how to get out."

Her eyes widened. "How are we gonna do that? We don't know when, or if, they'll be back."

He stood still looking up at the net. "Well, I would assume they won't be back any time soon. If this woman would rather have you dead, then she's probably going to leave you here to see how long that would take." He looked down at her. "Come on. I have an idea," he said, holding out his hand to help her up.

She eyed his hand, standing up on her own. "What do you have in mind?"

He gestured to his upper body. "Put your arms around me and I'll pull us both up the side of the pit."

She crinkled her face. "What about the net?"

"I figure I can cut away enough for us to slip out. I don't know if they'll be tipped off that the net's been broken so it's probably best we go at the same time." She continued to look at him with disdain. He crossed his arms. "What? Do you have a better idea? Or do you have a problem touching me now?"

"I have no problem touching you," she growled. She sighed heavily and looked upwards. "I guess we have no other choice," she said defeatedly. "Fine. Let's go."

They both moved towards the wall, quickly discovering the trip up the wall would be more awkward than either of them wanted. Nayamae put her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. She hated to admit she needed Kakashi's help out of the pit, so she kept her mouth shut, pressing her cheek against his neck. Kakashi was glad he was strong enough to lift both of them up the wall. She was heavier than he expected her to be from her short height.

Finally, they reached the net. "Now what?" Nayamae asked, carefully adjusting her grip. She avoided looking down.

"Well," Kakashi said with a grunt, "I think if I cut it in the right spot, it won't fall on us and poison us."

"I hope you're right," she muttered, shutting her eyes tightly.

He reached up to where the net was fastened to the wall, focusing the chakra in his hand to cut the rope. After several minutes, the hole was finally large enough for them to climb through and out to freedom. Nayamae crawled over Kakashi to reach the ground first, only turning back to help him up.

He laid down on his back, catching his breath and resting his sore arms. "That was quite the trip," he said, panting. "Nayamae, we should-" he started, sitting up. She was gone. "Nayamae?" Quickly, he jumped to his feet, looking around him. She was nowhere to be seen. Kakashi sighed irritably. "You're welcome," he muttered to the silent trees around him.

* * *

Kakashi would not see Nayamae for nearly two years. He had thought about her every so often, but had no idea what had happened to her after their escape from the pit. As far as he guessed, she had gone back to Orochimaru. As for Shinjou and any of her people, he had managed to pick up evidence of her drug trades, but never found a definite trail.

Kakashi found himself staring out over the village from the balcony of his apartment. It was nighttime, the village quiet as it slept. He heard the occasional owl hooting in the distance and the faint breath of wind blowing through the trees. All felt peaceful. He sighed, turning to go back inside, when something caught his eye.

He stood, fixed on the figure running down the street. They stopped at every door, knocking loudly. "Please, you have to help me!" called a female voice. "Someone!" Kakashi noticed she was holding her right hand to her chest. "Please, is anybody there?"

Quickly, Kakashi sped downstairs to his door, just as she was passing by. "Hey!" he called out to her. She turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked as she approached. When she came into the light of the doorway, he instantly recognized her. "Nayamae?" She stopped instantly, her eyes wide. Blood was dripping down her arm, staining her clothes. She shook her head as she turned to run away.

"Wait!" Kakashi cried as he ran after her. He caught her shoulder, being careful not to injure her any further. "Are you hurt? I can help you!"

Nayamae screamed when he touched her, the cry echoing loudly in his ears. Kakashi instantly let go of her. She was in hysterics. He could plainly see the whites of her eyes in the darkness. She suddenly curled up into a ball on the ground and softly whimpered to herself. People in nearby houses awoke, turning on the lights in their bedrooms, lightly illuminating the street. Kakashi was unsure of what to do. He didn't know if she screamed because of his touch or because she was injured, but he needed to get her inside to treat her.

He knelt down beside her. "Nayamae, I'm not going to hurt you," he told her gently. "I'm going to take you inside my home and treat your wound, okay?" After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Okay, come on." He helped her up and led her inside.

Once inside, Nayamae seemed jittery. She shuffled her feet side to side and stared wide-eyed around the small apartment. Kakashi noticed she had changed since he last saw her. She was slightly taller now, but was still much shorter than him. Her face was thinner, her eyes more hollow, but she looked more adult. Her hair was still raven black, but was terribly tangled and messy.

"Sit here," Kakashi said, pointing to a single wooden chair. He left to get his first aid kit. When he returned, she was standing in the doorway to leave. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked sternly. "Sit down and let me treat you before it gets infected."

"It'll heal," she replied quietly, staring at the floor like a child who had just been caught doing something wrong.

"Not before you'll have to have your arm amputated," he countered. "Sit." Reluctantly, Nayamae came back to the chair. "What happened to you?" he asked as she carefully removed the bloodsoaked shirt. She didn't answer him and avoided his gaze. Her whole right arm was covered in deep cuts, some still bleeding heavily.

Kakashi worked quickly, cleaning around the wounds, putting pressure to her arm to stop the bleeding, and giving them clean dressings. Just by looking them over, he deduced the wounds were self-inflicted. He went to his bedroom and grabbed another shirt for her.

"Here," he said, helping her carefully put on the shirt. She still looked down at the floor, anywhere but at his face. He couldn't help but notice how thin she was, the shirt hanging loosely off of her small figure. He also saw small pinprick dots on her inner left arm. "Nayamae," he said quietly, staring at the scabs, "what's happened to you?"

Her eyes widened in fear. "I…" her mouth stayed agape. "I was trying to stop myself from injecting any more…I don't want to do them anymore…!" Kakashi stayed silent. Nayamae began to weep. "You have to help me! Please! I'll do anything you ask!" With her non-injured arm, she grabbed at his shirt.

Kakashi stood dumbfounded. Last he knew, she hated him for no reason, now she was begging for his help? Was she up to something? His thoughts went back to her connection to Orochimaru. Was she still working for him? And if so, she would have been one of his longer experiments.

He didn't push her hand away, but gently pried her fingers from his shirt. "Listen, I know someone who can help you. It'll just take her a few days to get here." She looked up at him, her eyes surprised. "In the meantime," he said, standing up, "I'm taking you to the hospital. You need more attention for those wounds." He left her still sitting in the chair, going towards his bedroom. "I'll give my friend a call first."

Kakashi didn't trust her. He needed to contact ANBU to let them know where Nayamae was. No one had seen her in those two years and everyone who knew about her figured Orochimaru killed her in an experiment. As horrible as the thought was, most had accepted that as truth. He was serious about getting her help though.

He dialed a few numbers onto the phone and put the receiver to his ear, hearing the familiar trill of the ring. A female voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Kyrie, it's me," he answered.

"Kakashi?" Kyrie said in surprise. "Haven't heard from you in a while! What can I do for ya so late at night?"

"I've got a case for you. She needs help."

"Brought in a stray?"

Kakashi sighed, looking out his bedroom door to make sure Nayamae was still sitting in the chair. She was. "More or less. She's got some sort of drug addiction and she's hurt herself."

"Oh, dear! Sounds awful!" Kakashi heard shuffling sounds as if she had been reclining and was now hurrying to pack a bag. "I'll be over right away."

"I'm going to take her to the hospital and get her treatment there first. I know there's some people with ANBU that may want to talk to her as well."

Kyrie paused. "Kakashi, really? You've just helped a poor woman and now you're throwing her under the bus like that?"

He sighed again. "This isn't the first time I've met her. I know she's a criminal. Been missing for a couple years now."

"You don't know a thing about her!" Kyrie protested. "I'll be there by tomorrow night! Don't you _dare_ tell _anyone_ elsefrom ANBU about her until I say so!" She immediately hung up with a loud click.

Kakashi grimaced, putting the phone back down. He turned to look at Nayamae again. She sat quietly, still looking at her lap. Granted, he thought, it had been a few years now so maybe something has changed. But she still broke the law and had never been properly brought to justice for it.

Kakashi walked back into the main room. "Come on," he said, standing in front of her. "Let's get you to the hospital." Quietly, Nayamae obeyed, following behind him.

* * *

 **I know these chapters are a little slow in coming, but hey, I'm super busy now and I don't have a whole lot of free time. I would love to write more of this, but I just don't have the time TToTT**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Leave

"Fuck you!" Nayamae screamed, straining against the cuffs around her wrists that held her to the hospital bed. "Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!"

"Nayamae, please!" cried the nurse as she attempted to stop her from moving. "You'll reopen your wounds!" She turned her head towards the door. "I need some help in here!"

"Fuck that sharingan user! He tricked me!" She continued to thrash around on the bed. More people rushed into the room, moving to grab at any thrashing limb. "He tricked me! He's tricked me!" She continued to scream as the nurse grabbed a sedative and attempted to put it into Nayamae's vein. "NO!" she yelled, trying to yank her arm away in a panic. She felt warmth rising to her eyes, a burning sensation in her chest. Immediately, all the nurses and doctors touching her bare skin released her, their skin singed from the sudden heat. Everyone stared at her in shock as she laid back, eyes closed, and chest heaving as she caught her breath. "Don't… Don't you dare fucking touch me with that thing…" She felt the sudden heat leaving her body as she continued to catch her breath. "Don't fucking touch me…"

"You need to let them treat you, Nayamae," a voice said from the foot of her bed.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know who it was. "Get out of here before I kick your ass, Hatake," she threatened.

"You have no reason to do so anyway. I've done nothing but help you."

Nayamae sat up, glaring daggers directly at Kakashi. "Oh yeah? Then why the hell am I chained to a damn hospital bed? Some help you've been."

He crossed his arms. "You would have bled to death last night if I hadn't done anything. You're welcome." The hospital staff stood awkwardly off to the side as they uncomfortably watched the scene. He turned to them. "Leave." They immediately obeyed.

Nayamae didn't break her eyes from his face once as they filed out. "I was coming off of a high. It would have been better if you hadn't helped me."

"I thought you were being Orochimaru's science project?" Kakashi said coldly. "That's where you've been these last few years, right? Just needed a bit of extra help after an experiment gone wrong. Maybe spy a little bit while you're at it."

"I will cut your tongue out of your mouth," Nayamae hissed.

"Ooh, touchy." Kakashi was unsure why he felt like egging her on. He figured she would accidentally blurt something out of anger, telling him about any of her criminal activities. He had no reason to keep her as a friendly ally, especially when her eyes held such hatred for him. She reminded him of a trapped animal. "Alright, so if you weren't playing guinea pig with Orochimaru, what have you been doing?"

"Fuck off," she spat, attempting a kick to his chest, her foot barely reaching him.

Kakashi didn't flinch. "Try that again and see me put cuffs on your ankles too, fox."

She continued to glare at him, baring her teeth. "For the record," she said, "Orochimaru has something of mine that I would like to get back. Get that for me and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

He narrowed his eyes. "So you do or don't want help? You're sending mixed signals." He did consider her offer though. On one hand, she has valuable information that ANBU had been trying to get for years. On the other hand, she could be lying and only trying to get out of an arrest.

"You'll get nothing from me if I don't have it back," Nayamae continued.

Curiosity got the best of him. "What did he steal from you?"

She was reluctant. "My kitsunebi." She wasn't sure if he would believe her, but without it, even with only a portion of it gone, she would eventually die. "You remember what that is, don't you?"

He leaned forward, balancing on his hands and shaking his head in disbelief. "You just burned those people who were trying to help you a few minutes ago. What do you mean he's stolen your fox fire?"

She was quiet for a moment. "Well, not _all_ of it," she admitted, "but I still need it back!"

He straightened up. "I'll make sure your request is considered," he told her plainly, turning to leave.

"Hey!" she yelled after him. He didn't turn back.

* * *

"Hello!" a bright woman said as she entered Nayamae's hospital room, jolting Nayamae awake. She had peppery black hair tied into a bun on the top of her head. She wore red circular glasses over her yellow eyes. In her hands she held a brown briefcase. "I'm Kyrie! I'm a friend of Kakashi's." She sat down on the right side of her bed, holding the briefcase in her lap. "I'm here to help you!" She smiled widely, exposing white teeth.

Nayamae shifted uncomfortably, not liking Kyrie's too friendly introduction.

"Your name's Nayamae, right? Mind if I call you Naya, for short? It'll make things much easier." Kyrie didn't give her a chance to reply. "Let's take a look at your arm, Naya," Kyrie continued, reaching for her bandaged arm.

Nayamae pulled her arm away as far as the restraints would allow her to, which wasn't very far. "Don't touch me!" she warned, baring her teeth.

"Ooh, Kakashi warned me about this." Kyrie sighed, unclasping the locks on her briefcase. "That's why I brought these with me," she said, pulling out a pair of black gloves and slipping them over her hands. "Can't burn me with these!" She smiled again and wriggled her fingers. Nayamae stared dumbly at the older woman, unsure of how to react around her. Gently, Kyrie took Nayamae's arm and began to unwrap the bandage. "Just gonna take a looksie here," she assured her. Kyrie blinked, staring at the pale skin of Nayamae's arm. "What the?" She continued to unwrap the rest of the bandage, finding her whole arm had healed. She set her arm down, took off the gloves, and stood. "I'll be right back!" she said, practically running out of the room.

Kyrie ran down the hall where she found Kakashi talking with some fellow ANBU members. "I need to speak with you," she said urgently, pulling him aside.

"Kyrie, I was just about to leave. What do you need?" he asked, feeling annoyed.

"You just called me out here last night," she replied.

He nodded. "Yeah, I did. What's your point?"

"Her arm is totally healed. There's nothing for me to look at. Other than being a little thin, she doesn't look totally unhealthy either. But, still," Kyrie crossed her arms, "whatever drug addiction she may have, she doesn't show it." She shook her head. "What's going on with that young woman? What aren't you telling me about her?"

Kakashi sighed and brought his voice down to a whisper. "Listen, she's a kitsune, part fox, part woman. She's also been working for Orochimaru as a labrat for the last couple of years. The extent of her health is questionable. As for her ability to heal herself so quickly, I think that's something Orochimaru gave her, but it's hard to tell given what she is."

She nodded. "I see."

Kakashi continued. "Right now we're trying to figure out what exactly she's up to. We think maybe-"

"She needs _help,_ Kakashi. Not an arrest warrant," Kyrie interrupted, looking at him sternly. "She wouldn't have shown up banging on people's doors if she wasn't looking for someone to legitimately help her. Where's your compassion?"

He exhaled, looking away from her. "You're not allowing me to do my job, Kyrie."

She threw her hands up. "Why don't you find some other way to do your investigation for a little bit? Maybe find someone else who knows her? Let her rest and then try talking to her."

He turned back to face her. "She's our only solid connection to finding Orochimaru right now," Kakashi argued, unintentionally raising his voice then quickly going back to a harsh whisper. "We can use her to find him and stop him from doing any more experiments on people. Including her." Kyrie was quiet. "But, at the same time, she's not entirely innocent either. I've told you this before."

"Fine. If you won't do something, then I will," she said sharply, turning on her heels and marching back to Nayamae's room.

"Hey-! What are you going to do?" Kakashi asked, following her.

"I'm gonna undo what shouldn't have been done in the first place!" She stormed into Nayamae's room, pulling back the white curtain. She jumped back in surprise, causing Kakashi to run into her. "She's gone…?" The bed was empty, the bed sheets pushed away and the strangely unopened handcuffs lay vacant. The window was open widely, the curtains moving gently in the breeze.

Kakashi moved Kyrie aside. "Dammit! You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, leaning out the open window. "She's turned herself into a fox. We've got to find her."

"You're going to go look for a fox? Good luck with that." Kyrie said sarcastically, examining the still locked handcuffs.

"She's a criminal," Kakashi stated. He ran outside the room where the other ANBU officers stood.

"Kakashi, wait!" Kyrie called, running after him. "You're really going to go after a fox when there's probably thousands of similar looking foxes outside of the village?"

"She can't have gotten far." Kakashi replied, leading the other officers out of the hospital, Kyrie trailing behind them. "Whenever she used her kitsunebi she got extremely tired. It may be the same thing when she changes to her fox."

"I can't go with you then," Kyrie said, stopping in the middle of the street and watching them run down the road towards the outskirts of the village.

* * *

Nayamae couldn't believe her luck when that woman had left the room. It was good to know she could still recover so quickly. She was still worried she had used too much energy to burn the doctors and nurses, but sleeping helped her gain some of that energy back. She decided now was her time to move and to leave the hospital. If she stayed any longer, she was sure to be arrested for real.

Changing into an animal was always an uncomfortable transition, but it was now or never. She watched her hands shrink and felt her bones tensing and relaxing as she changed form. When it was over, she paused a moment, assessing how she felt. She felt freer in this form, no one would recognize her. She didn't feel as tired as she thought she might, which was good. Orochimaru hadn't taken this away from her too.

The window had already been cracked open, all Nayamae had to do was nudge it open and push herself out onto the awning. She followed the awning towards the alleyway where she could safely jump onto a dumpster and then onto the ground. The rest of the trip would be her running to the woods where she would hide and sleep as much as she could. People jumped whenever they saw the fox run by their feet, startled at the animal being the middle of the village. Nayamae paused and looked back for a moment at a yellow haired boy with green goggles on his head. They regarded each other, both feeling a strange connection, but she soon turned around and continued to make her way out of the village.

As she ran, her heart burned with anger every time she thought of Kakashi and what he had done to her. A little voice in the back of her head told her she should have been grateful to him for the night before, but she ignored it. He was persistent at trying to get her in trouble. The voice in her head said it was because she had broken the law and deserved the consequences. She ignored this too.

She continued to run until she was way out of the village and away from prying eyes.

* * *

 **Let's see what happens to Nayamae next! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Ally?

_9 Years after the Nine Tails Attack, 20 years old._

"Missing?"

"Yes!" blubbered a woman as she clutched a blue scarf in her hands. "My son has been missing for nearly two days! No one has been able to find him and we don't know where he could have gone!"

Kakashi watched from a distance as the woman continued to sob. The officer taking her report looked uncomfortable, but sympathetic. This had been the fifth child to go missing in less than two weeks.

"What do you make of it, Hatake?" Miro asked, watching the woman as well.

Kakashi shook his head. "Sounds like kidnapping to me. Children don't just disappear like that." The pair had been assigned to lead a group to find the missing children. It wasn't something they were normally assigned to do, but it was part of the job. "Let's get that woman's final report and add it to the pile."

They got her report and pulled out the other reports they had, comparing the children to each other. They hadn't found much of a connection between them other than their age. All of the children were seven years old.

"There _has_ to be something else that connects them," Kakashi said, rubbing his tired eyes.

"All of the parents claim their children never came home after school," said Miro. "Are they from the same neighborhood?"

"Not sure," he replied, "but let's see." He pulled out a map and marked where their houses were. "They all come from the same four block radius near the edge of the village. Easy to nab them and take them outside of village limits."

"I'll go scout that area for clues," Miro said, writing down the addresses. "Holler at me if you find something."

"I will," Kakashi replied, pouring over the files again. Besides living near each other, he did not find much else to connect the children. Kakashi pushed away the papers in front of him. "I'm going out for a walk," he said aloud to himself, standing up to walk outside, leaving the paperwork to the other investigators. This particular case seriously bothered him. Who would be horrible enough to steal school children? The information he knew rolled in his mind, over and over, but none of it made sense. Hardly any leads, no witnesses, and no known evidence to where they could have been taken.

Before he knew it, Kakashi found himself outside of the village, completely engulfed in his own thoughts. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. "Ow!" he yelled, putting his hand where a rock had hit him. He looked around, searching for who had thrown the rock. He caught a glimpse of long, raven black hair running in the opposite direction. He recognized the color, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it. Immediately he gave chase to the figure.

"Hey!" he called out, suddenly remembering her name. "Nayamae!" She didn't look back at him. He was faster than her, but she was swifter. Her small frame allowed her to dodge between the trees quicker than Kakashi could maneuver around them. "Nayamae!"

He wasn't quite sure where she was leading him, but he kept an eye on her hair, which flew freely behind her and glimmered when the sun hit it. It suddenly struck him that he really admired the color of her hair. It reminded him of a raven's feathers with the faint tints of blue and pink when it reflected light. He was growing tired the further he chased her into the forest and away from the village.

She stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking a river. She looked down at the water below before turning around to face him. They both stood staring at each other, taking a moment to catch their breath.

Nayamae spoke first. "I know where those kids are."

Kakashi blinked. "You do? Where are they?" She hesitated. "How do you know about the missing kids?" he continued before she could answer. "Were you the one who kidnapped them?" He felt himself getting angry at the thought of her being behind this crime. "What's happened to them?"

She put her hands up in front of her and took a small step back. "Whoa, hey! I'm not the one who took them! I only know where they are!"

He took a step forward, prompting her to step back again. "Where are they? I won't ask again." He felt his hand tingle as electricity gathered in his fingertips. Kakashi was done playing her games every time they met. He wanted a straight answer and he was going to get it without any distractions.

Her eyes glanced to his right hand as she sensed the chakra gathering there. She still had her hands up, "Listen-" she started, taking another step back, but found the cliff only extended so far. With a high-pitched yelp, she slipped from the edge, falling into the water not far below.

Immediately, Kakashi was at the edge of the cliff, quickly diving in after her. He swam towards her as she splashed about, unsuccessfully keeping her head above the water. He put his arm around her, pulling her towards the riverbank, his legs kicking hard against the current, his free arm grasping at the water in front of him. He pulled her onto the sand as she coughed and spat water.

They lay in the sand, both catching their breath. "Shit," Nayamae muttered, coughing up more water. "You seem to have a knack for things like this." She moved her soaked hair out of her face, turning to look up at him.

"Well, if you would stop needing help so much, we wouldn't have to deal with this," Kakashi retorted, sitting up. "Swimming isn't a strength of your is it?"

She shot him a glare. "When it catches you by surprise, it's a little more difficult." She gripped the edge of her shirt and twisted it, letting the water drip to the ground.

He shrugged his now soaked vest off his shoulders, setting it aside on some nearby rocks. He took off his headband, keeping his eye shut tight. He took off his shoes as well, pouring out whatever water remained. He turned back to Nayamae who remained sitting, now squeezing her wet hair with her hands. "Now, tell me what you know about those missing children. I have quite a few families who are waiting to hear anything about them."

She paused and looked up at him, her eyes full of sadness. "What I tell you won't be good news," she admitted. She glanced at his right hand. "There's no reason for you to use your electricity on me," she told him, looking back up at his face. "I'm going to cooperate this time."

Kakashi looked at her skeptically. "How do I know that?"

She let go of her hair and held out her hands to him. "Arrest me if you don't trust me. I help you get those kids, I'll get my kitsunebi back."

"Still haven't gotten that back, have you?" He crossed his arms as she shook her head. "What makes you think helping me with these kids will help you get that back?"

She hesitated again. "Because," she started, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Orochimaru is using those kids for something. I'm not quite sure what."

"Tell me everything you know," Kakashi pressed. He watched her face contort as though it physically hurt to talk. He knelt beside her. "Please," he said softly.

Nayamae shut her eyes tightly, feeling a sharp pain stab inside her head. She knew exactly what it was, but was unable to say it. She shook her head and tightly took hold of Kakashi's arm. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a small groan came out as the pain in her head grew. "I-I can't…!" she finally managed to shout. The pain in her head lessened. "I can't!" she repeated. "I… I can't…" The pain dissipated like the air out of a balloon.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel a slight bit of disappointment. He loosened her grip on his arm, putting her hand at her side. She felt his touch linger for a moment, but ignored it as she suddenly got an idea. "I may not be able to tell you," she said, slowly standing up, "but I think I'll be able to show you."

"Show me," he echoed, standing up as well. He wasn't sure what it was that made him think she was telling him the truth. There was something about her that seemed to be different. It may have been that she wasn't actually looking at him with hatred in her eyes. She seemed to legitimately want to help him. Or maybe because her wet clothes were clinging to her body, which, he had to admit, was distracting him much more than he wanted.

She patted herself down, brushing the sand off of her wet clothes. "It's a little further from here," she admitted.

"How much further?" he asked.

"About a day's walk," she replied sheepishly.

Kakashi huffed then shook his head. "We'll need some provisions then."

"You don't have any with you already? I mean, I can fend for myself just fine, but what were you doing walking around in the woods?"

"Certainly not for anything that required supplies. And even if I did bring some they would have been washed away in the river," Kakashi replied, feeling his vest to see how dry it was. It was still damp. "You'll have to come back with me to get some," he told her, shrugging on the damp vest.

"Go back with you to the village?" Nayamae said as she watched him tie his headband around his head. He sat down to put his shoes on. "I can't go there!"

"Why not?" he asked. "I'm not going to let you go anywhere by yourself anyway. You're a key part of an investigation. You're not going to be arrested."

She frowned. "Yet," she muttered.

"Besides," he continued, standing back up, "you want your kitsunebi back, don't you? You help me, I help you. That's the way this works." She continued to frown as he went to the water's edge to wash the sand from his hands. "It shouldn't take long. I just have to grab a few things and fill in Miro on what's happening."

Nayamae groaned. "Oh, great. _He's_ your partner?"

He nodded. "Yes, and you'll work with him if you don't want to be arrested so suck it up." She glared at him, but he ignored her. "Let's get going. We can't waste any more time." She began to follow him back towards the village when he suddenly stopped, quickly turning back to her. "One more thing," he started, pointing a finger under her chin, "if you try _any_ games with me or Miro, there _will_ be hell to pay. If you lie to either of us at any point, I won't hesitate to electrocute you. You tell the truth, be honest with us, and lead us to the missing children, we will work out a deal for you."

"...And get my kitsunebi back," Nayamae added.

Kakashi sighed irritably. "No games, _fox._ I mean it."

She put her hand up. "No games," she promised.

He nodded. "Good."

* * *

After reaching the village gates, it took Kakashi some coaxing to get Nayamae to enter the village. At first, she refused, promising she would stay just outside, waiting for Kakashi to return. He didn't trust her enough to stay as she promised, so instead, he reasoned to her that it would take less time if they went in together than if they separated. Finally, after several minutes of arguing back and forth, she agreed to go with him into the village.

As they walked, Nayamae kept staring at her feet, keeping Kakashi close ahead of her. She ran into his back when he suddenly stopped to the sound of someone calling his name.

"Kakashi!" The voice belonged to a man in a green suit, with black bowl-cut hair, and large eyebrows. "It's been too long!" the man said, joyfully greeting his long-time rival. Kakashi looked as though he wished he were anyone else. "Where have you been?"

"Busy," he replied shortly, trying to push past him. Nayamae grabbed onto the back of Kakashi's shirt so she wouldn't lose him in the growing crowd of the market. "I don't have time to talk, Guy."

"Oh," Guy said disappointedly. He spotted Nayamae standing close behind Kakashi, looking uncomfortable, quickly shifting his mood again. "But who do we have here?" he asked, smiling widely at his friend. He nudged him with his elbow, giving him a wink. "Never seen you on a date before!"

"No, Guy," he denied irritably. "We're not here for that." He lowered his voice. "I've been trying to find some missing children. She's my guide to finding them. We're just here to pick up supplies."

"Missing children, you say?" Guy's face grew serious. "Let me help. How many are missing?" he asked, bringing his voice down to an almost whisper.

"Five," he replied.

"Make that seven," Miro said, walking up to them. "Two more were reported missing while you were gone," he told Kakashi. He spotted Nayamae. "What's _she_ doing here?"

"She's-" Kakashi started.

"I'm here to help," she said, letting go of Kakashi's shirt. "I know where they are and who has them. You won't find them without me." She stared at him, daring him to deny her.

Miro glanced between the two of them. "Fine." He turned to his partner. "You better explain what's going on here on the way." He turned to Guy. "You're welcome to join us. We could use you."

Guy smiled. "You can count on me!"

The group gathered supplies for a few days trip, getting extra for the children they would soon be rescuing. As they left the village, Miro barraged Nayamae with questions on what she knew about the children.

"I promise to tell you what I can when we stop for the night!" she snapped after feeling the stabbing pain in her head for the fourth time that day. "There's only so much I'm able to tell you."

Miro looked back at Kakashi, giving him an irritated look. Kakashi just shook his head and gave him a signal that meant "wait."

* * *

 **Well looks like things will be picking up for this group soon! Adding Guy into the mix will definitely add some much needed humor to this.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Choices

Kakashi, Guy, Miro, and Nayamae stopped for the night shortly after the sun went down. Miro got busy building a small fire while the rest of them set up their own sleeping areas. They worked in silence, each keeping to their own areas until Kakashi started to cook their meal of fish and rice.

After portioning everyone with rice and a piece of fish, they said their thanks to Kakashi and began to eat. Guy paused looking between the three of them. Miro and Kakashi were both staring at Nayamae while they ate, looking slightly impatient. She stayed focused on her food, purposely ignoring both of their stares. "So," Guy started, setting down his bowl for a moment to talk and break the growing awkward silence, "what is the plan to rescue the children?"

"I need to go in alone," Nayamae said before anyone else could respond.

Miro scoffed. "Absolutely not."

"What makes you think we'll let you do that?" Kakashi added.

"Just at first!" she responded quickly. "I know the layout best. I've been in and out of there plenty of times. Plus you need someone to distract Orochimaru so you can get those kids out, right?" She stared Kakashi down. "Let me do it."

Kakashi glanced at Miro, catching his eye. "You just want to get your kitsunebi," he accused.

"Her what?" Guy asked, mouth full of rice.

"Kitsunebi," he repeated. "She's a kitsune that's lost her fox fire. That's all she wants back. She doesn't actually care about getting those kids back to their families."

Nayamae slammed her bowl down, immediately standing up. "That's _not_ true!" she cried, glaring piercingly at Kakashi. " _I know what_ _ **he's**_ _doing to them!_ Those kids have-!" She sat back down, grabbing onto her head and biting back a sob as instantaneous pain stabbed through her head. "Fuck…"

"Are you alright?" Guy asked, kneeling beside her.

She swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me," she growled. Guy backed off, wondering what he did wrong. After a few minutes, the pain was virtually gone from her head. "It's not true," she repeated. "I do care about getting those kids back to their families. Getting my kitsunebi back is only a part of it."

"How noble of you," Miro said mockingly. "It's a good plan, I suppose, but you still have a personal goal involved. How do we know you aren't going to run off?"

She was quiet. "I can't answer that."

"Then you don't go off alone."

Kakashi looked her over. She looked defeated, tired even. "That pain in you get, is there a seal somewhere that prevents you from talking about certain things?" She eventually nodded. "Where is it?" he asked. "Maybe I can help with it."

Slowly, she stood, moving her hair to one side and crossing her arms, reaching for the bottom of her shirt. She turned her back to them as she lifted it to reveal a black, beetle-like seal in the middle of her spine. It was no bigger than Kakashi's palm. "I don't think there's much you can do with it," she said with a small voice. "Orochimaru made it himself."

"Why a beetle?" asked Guy. "Wouldn't it be more appropriate for it to be a snake? Ya know?"

Nayamae shot him a look. "A beetle crawls under the skin and can kill you from the inside. Something he's tried to do with me many times," she mumbled quietly. Guy looked down.

Kakashi stood and made his way to her. She stood still as he examined the seal in the firelight. "Do you mind?" he asked. She nodded, giving him permission. He felt her stiffen at his touch, goosebumps crawling across her back. It was like a tattoo, a permanent part of her skin. "I think I can at least release a part of it, if not the whole thing," he said after a while. "It'll help loosen your tongue, for lack of a better term." He turned back to Miro. "If we want to know anything in much detail, I have to at least try."

Miro glanced to Guy. Nayamae had let her shirt fall back down, turning back to face the fire. He sighed heavily. "It's not like we have much of a choice. But first, could you draw us a map of Orochimaru's lair? In case you do run off, I would like to know where we could at least try to find a way in."

She thought for a moment. "I'll do it in exchange for a weapon. My sword was…confiscated."

Before Miro could answer, Kakashi was already reaching into his pouch, pulling out a kunai blade. "It's all you get," he stated firmly, putting it into her outstretched hand. "It's no sword, but you can at the very least defend yourself with it."

"Thank you," she said, smugly looking at Miro, pocketing the kunai. Miro shot his partner a glare. She moved past Guy to where Miro had pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. It took her several minutes to draw it, taking pauses to recollect her memory. "There are some rooms I've never been in, so not everything is going to be on this map. The only route I would concern myself with is this one," she advised, pointing to an entrance on the side. "From here, move quickly along this hall to here. I'm pretty sure that's where he's been keeping the kids when he wasn't…working on them."

Miro nodded thoughtfully, taking a closer look at what she had drawn. "We'll find them no matter what obstacles get in our way!" Guy said enthusiastically.

Kakashi tapped her shoulder. "Come on. Let's take care of that seal. You two," he said, pointing to Guy and Miro, "come up with a plan of action and we'll discuss it as a group when we get back. We won't be far."

The pair walked away from the warmth of the fire, feeling it get noticeably cooler as they moved further into the darkness. Kakashi needed a quiet place away from distractions to concentrate on undoing this foreign seal. Finally, they came into a small clearing. They could still see the orange glow from their campsite, but it was far enough they would have privacy to do what needed to be done.

Nayamae stopped. "You don't have to do this," she said, hugging her arms close to her body.

Kakashi sighed. "It's probably better for you when it's gone anyway."

She shook her head. "How do you know this will work?"

"I don't," he said bluntly. He lifted his headband, keeping his sharingan eye closed still. "Turn around," he ordered. Slowly Nayamae did as she was told, moving her hair off her back, she then lifted her shirt again, revealing the black beetle. She felt vulnerable with her bare back turned to him, though she didn't sense that he wanted to hurt her on purpose.

He opened his sharingan, observing her chakra signals around the seal. After several long minutes, he was finally able to see the puzzle of the seal itself. It was genius, really. With the sharingan, he was able to see the beetle was quite literally attached to her spine, sending signals up to her brain. It was more than just a black mark on her skin. He would have to somehow sever the signals her brain was receiving and then remove the beetle one part at a time. He wasn't sure how this may hurt her or whether or not she would survive the removal, but he had to try.

"Alright, Nayamae, brace yourself." She braced herself against a tree, while Kakashi made his hands into multiple symbols before placing them on the beetle. The seal glowed pink while he slowly unraveled it, unsealing it from her body first. She cried out, wanting to jump away from him because of the pain, but knew it was too late for him to stop. She gripped tightly to the tree bark, feeling it scratch and tear the skin of her hands. Several tense minutes passed before he could try to unseal it from her mind.

Suddenly he was no longer in the woods with her. He saw a boy with jet black hair and eyes as blue as the sky, pulling her by the arm through a house as they played. He was no older than twelve or thirteen, smiling widely back at her. His voice and laughter coaxed her through different rooms, as though they were looking for something or someone. The boy pulled on a sliding door, both of the children stopping in the doorway as a room full of fully armed adults stared back at them. They had interrupted.

"Ryu!" a woman's voice shrieked angrily from the far side of the room. "What have I told you about playing in the house?!" The woman stomped towards them, past the angry looking soldiers. Her long, dark hair was braided to her knees and was beginning to grey near her forehead. Her green eyes were filled with a burning exasperation. A long jagged scar ran down the right side of her face and neck, beginning from her temple running over her collar bone, caused by injury she had sustained many years before. Nayamae made eye contact with a man with kind eyes, but a savage appearance. _Abba,_ Nayamae's voice echoed in the memory.

"Go play _outside!"_ the woman hissed, pushing the children out of the room, giving them both a quick, but hard, swat on the head, and slamming the door behind them. The children looked at each other, both in quiet defeat. Their game forgotten.

A blur and a change of scene.

The boy was older now. He was handsome. He was no older than seventeen. He gently held Nayamae's face in his hands. They were entangled in a mess of sheets, their clothes discarded across the room. The world was quiet. Nothing mattered to them but each other and the bed they were in. "Naya," he said blissfully, kissing her softly, she liked the soft kisses best.

Another blur and another change of scene.

The boy lay silent and unmoving in the grass. His eyes matched the color of the graying sky. His blood stained his clothes and the ground around him. Hot tears fell down Nayamae's cheeks, leaving streaks on her dirty face. She screamed his name. "Ryu!" she cried. "Somebody!" she yelled, holding him to her chest. "SOMEBODY HELP PLEASE! RYU!" She rocked him, but he did not stir. She tried kissing him, but still he didn't wake. She turned her head, hearing someone approaching. "Kabuto, please…! You have to help him!"

Suddenly, Kakashi found himself back in the woods again. He never saw who Kabuto was. He wasn't entirely sure what he had just seen. _Who's Ryu? Who's Abba?_ He stared down at the woman kneeling in front of him, her arms bracing herself against the tree, her chest heaving up and down as she sobbed. He remembered he was suppose to be undoing the seal on her back, but when he looked, it faded away without a trace. Kakashi didn't know what he'd done to remove it, but regardless, it was gone. Nayamae shuddered then collapsed to the ground.

Kakashi went to her side, gently rolling her onto her back. With his sharingan still uncovered, he noticed a small flame surrounding her heart. It wasn't very strong, but it burned brightly nontheless. It was what remained of her kitsunebi. The more he stared at the flame, he felt like he could reach into her chest and take what remained of the fire. Quickly, he shut his eye and covered his sharingan with his headband. What a foolish thought, he berated himself. Without what little she had left, she would die, she had told him that. Besides, what could he possibly do with it once he had it?

He held a finger to her throat, checking her pulse. Suddenly, Nayamae gasped dramatically and sat up. She clutched onto Kakashi's arm pulling him towards her. "What did you see?" she growled in his ear.

He was surprised at her strength and ferocity. "See?" he asked, perplexed by such a weird question.

"You saw _him_ , didn't you?" She gripped him tighter, actually causing him a bit of pain. " _What did you see?_ " she demanded. Before he could answer, she threw him away from her, causing him to land heavily on his back. Immediately she was up and running away.

"Hey!" Kakashi yelled, running after her. His head felt slightly dizzy from using his sharingan, but he pursued her anyway. He felt the scene was somewhat familiar to when he had first encountered her. It was harder to chase her in the dark, but she wasn't trying to keep herself hidden either. He watched her trip, landing roughly on the ground.

Kakashi was on her before she could get up again. Nayamae tried lifting him off of her, but only managed to get her arms pulled behind her back. He held her hands to her back while sitting on her waist to keep her from running away again. While he struggled to keep both of her wrists together in one hand, he reached back with his other hand to grab handcuffs from a pouch. He cuffed her and kept her arms behind her as she growled and tried to kick at him.

"You _bastard,_ " Nayamae cursed, still struggling to get out from beneath his grip, her face rubbing into the dirt.

"You really want to do this again?" Kakashi asked angrily. "It didn't work out well for you last time. You remember our deal don't you? No games!"

"What did you _see?_ " she repeated, spitting dirt from her mouth.

"Fine," he replied, adjusting his grip. "I saw a boy. A boy with black hair and blue eyes. Ryu, wasn't it? That was his name."

Nayamae's eyes filled with overwhelming sadness, but the tears didn't fall as they had in her memory. "He is long dead," she said quietly, avoiding his gaze. " _Orochimaru killed him!_ _Slaughtered him!_ " she spat angrily. "I'm going to _kill_ him," she said. "I'm going to get my kitsunebi back and I am going to burn him _alive!_ "

Kakashi stared down at her. Her eyes burned intensely with her hatred. He then did something unexpected. He gently held her wrists and unlocked the handcuffs. She looked at him confused as he got off of her and helped her up to a sitting position.

"Go," he said. She was quiet, carefully wiping the dirt from her mouth. "Go, before I change my mind and make you help us anymore. We can take care of the children. Go."

She stared at him, unsure if he was serious. Quickly, she grabbed the edge of his mask and pulled it down to reveal his face. Before he could react, she had kissed him hard on the mouth. She released him, smiling at his shocked face. She locked eyes with him, trying to convey her thanks before giving him another quick peck on the cheek and sprinting into the darkness.

Kakashi sat staring stupidly after her darkening silhouette as she disappeared into the woods. He blinked and then pulled his mask back over his face. No one had ever pulled it off, much less just to kiss him. He stood and brushed the dirt from his pants. He then realized what he had done. He was going to have to explain to Miro and Guy why Nayamae was gone.

"Dammit," he muttered, turning to walk towards the faint orange glow of the campfire. He slowly approached the fire, feeling a wave of exhaustion pass over him. He stumbled into the light, causing Miro and Guy to stand on guard.

"Kakashi!" Guy exclaimed once he realized who it was, catching him before he could fall. He supported him with his arm over his shoulders, guiding him to a spot to sit down.

"What happened?" Miro asked, kneeling beside him.

"Undoing that seal must have taken more out of me than I thought," Kakashi replied, leaning back against Guy's leg as he also knelt beside him.

"You need to rest for a bit," Guy said, handing him a canteen. "Here, drink."

Kakashi took a few sips then leaned back again. "Where's Nayamae?" Miro asked, standing up and looking around. "Did she run off?" He was obviously angered at this.

Kakashi nodded. "I let her. She needed to take care of something first."

"What?!" Miro and Guy said in unison. "Why would you do that?" Guy asked.

"Goddammit, Kakashi!" Miro cursed. "She played you is what she did! You let her distract you! Kitsunes are exceptionally good at deception!" He threw his hands into the air, letting them fall at his sides in exasperation. "How are we going to find Orochimaru without her help? I don't expect those kids will be-!"

"Now, hold on!" Kakashi interrupted, leaning forward off of Guy's leg. "We can still find them and still use her help! It just may not be tonight." He took a breath and another quick drink of water. "Nayamae said she wanted to go in alone at first right? Be a distraction?"

"Are you thinking we should track her path in the morning?" Guy inquired. "It would be much lighter out if we waited a couple of hours. Morning will be here soon enough. And her trail would still be fresh enough to follow."

Kakashi nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. We track her path, find where she went, which it's highly likely she did go to Orochimaru, then we rescue those kids."

"Sounds like a reasonable plan to me," Guy agreed.

Miro stood with his arms crossed. He sighed and shood his head. "You still piss me off, Hatake. We'll leave at first light."

* * *

 **Miro can be a jerk, but that's just his character.**

 **Well, if you're still reading this story and have gotten to this point, thanks! I really enjoy writing this in my free time (when I have it) so I kinda plan to let this go on for a little while just so it gives me something to do. If you enjoy it, please leave me a review as to what you think will happen next!**

 **Seriously, thanks for reading. :)**


	8. Rescue

Nayamae ran deeper and deeper into the woods. She felt Kakashi's presence getting fainter as she got further away. She almost felt guilty for leaving them behind, but she trusted Kakashi enough when he said they would take care of the children. Her focus now was to kill Orochimaru. As she continued to run, dodging between trees and scaring small animals, her lungs burned and her side cramped. She decided to take a rest at the edge of a creek, sitting on a fallen log.

As she sat, she thought about what had happened just an hour before. The seal Orochimaru had put on her back to keep her from spilling his secrets was now gone. She wasn't quite ready to test whether or not she could actually say whatever she wanted. The pain in her head wasn't worth the risk. She had also hoped that Kakashi had understood the kiss she had given him was out of gratitude, although she had to admit, she did like his face underneath his mask and certainly didn't mind the kiss either. She shook her head of any fantasies and stared into the creek water.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the kunai. She then picked up a nearby stick and began shaving the outside of the stick. Keeping her hands steady, she attempted to carve a little fox head in the end of it. When that didn't work, she pocketed the kunai and stood up. After getting a drink from the creek, she continued on her path to Orochimaru's hideout.

It was early morning, shortly after dawn. The sun clearly peeking through the gaps in the trees, lighting her path. Nayamae knew she was getting closer. The rocky hillside it resided in was just in her line of sight. The area was void of any birds or other animals because Orochimaru's snakes would attack and eat them if they got too close. She typically didn't like his snakes anyway and would stomp their heads when she got the chance, but that action always earned her a swift beating and another night recovering in the small closet.

She kept her eyes fixed to the ground, watching for any snakes when suddenly, she was grabbed from behind, a hand quickly covering her mouth before she could cry out in surprise. She mentally berated herself for not sensing this person earlier. She struggled against the person, trying to reach for her kunai and throw them off of her, but a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Nayamae, it's me!" Kabuto. She immediately stopped her struggle and he let her go.

"What the hell was that about?!" she half-shouted at him.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" he whispered harshly. "Orochimaru doesn't know you're coming back yet and-"

"I'm coming back to kill him, Kabuto. Not to let him control me anymore." She tried to move past him, but he stepped in front of her. "Move, Kabuto. I don't want to fight you." He stood nearly a head taller than her, but she knew how to make it seem like she was bigger than him.

"I can't let you do that," he told her, holding a firm hand on her upper arm when she tried to move past him again. "Come, let's talk first."

"There's nothing to talk about. Get your hand off me," she growled. He looked at her, daring her to try moving past him again. He fingered a blade in his pocket. "Kabuto, he's been experimenting on _children!_ How can you be okay with that?" She suddenly realized what she was able to say, half expecting pain to stab through her head.

Kabuto seemed to realize it as well, moving quicker than she could react. The blade he had in his pocket was now stabbed into her side. She gasped, reaching for his hand before he could stab her again. He tried kicking her feet out from beneath her, but she had already jumped away from him. She gripped her side, blood pouring out between her fingers as she tried to apply pressure to her wound. If she could avoid any more injuries, she would have time to heal and not bleed out.

"Bastard," she called him, spitting blood at his feet.

"How did you undo your seal?" he asked, making patterns with his hands. She didn't answer.

Nayamae could feel his chakra pulling water out of the ground. It swirled around his hands as he infused the water with his chakra. Before he could attack her with it, she was already running in the direction she had come from earlier. She didn't have to try to sense him to know he was already pursuing her. The wound in her side burned as she ran. She could taste the blood rising in her mouth, but continued to run as fast as she could. The further she ran, the harder it was to breathe.

She stopped against a tree, coughing blood onto the ground. The wound was closing, but not as quickly as she would have liked. Faintly, she could sense more people coming towards her, recognizing their chakra patterns. _Kakashi! Miro! Guy!_ If she continued running back to them, eventually they would meet, but it was too late. While she was stopped, Kabuto had caught up to her. It didn't take long before her vision went blurry then faded to black.

* * *

When she awoke, Nayamae found herself on her bed facing the stone wall. Distantly, she could hear someone screaming. Carefully, she sat up and checked herself. The wound in her side was mostly healed. Her blood still stained her clothes and she could still taste it in her mouth. She got up as quickly as she could, grabbing her sword from against the wall, then dashing across the room to the door. To her surprise, it was unlocked. She peeked out into the hallway, expecting to see someone guarding the room. The hall was empty except the burning torches on the walls and the screams echoing from another side of the hideout. She thought it was strange Kabuto would attack her and then leave her alone with access to a weapon, especially after telling him what she planned to do. She felt her pocket and found the kunai was still there. It made her uneasy.

Swiftly she made her way out of the room and down the hall towards the screams. She didn't sense anyone nearby, but kept on high alert, her hand ready to unsheathe her sword at a moment's notice. She was hoping to kill Orochimaru in the middle of whatever horrible experiment he was currently doing.

She passed a door, sensing multiple people in the room, recognizing them as the stolen children from the village. She stopped in front of the door, wondering whether she should go ahead and free them to lead them out, but the screams were louder now, coming from just around the corner. She would have to trust that Kakashi and the others would be coming soon. She moved from the door and went around the corner. Slowly, she unsheathed her sword from its hilt, holding it out in front of her as she approached the door at the end of the hall. The screams were louder now. Orochimaru wouldn't hear if she opened the door.

Quietly, she opened the door and entered, sliding along the wall of the room. Orochimaru's back was to her. She could see one of the children was on the table in front of him, tears streaming down his young face and his mouth wide open as he screamed. Black marks were beginning to form on his skin, crawling up to face. Nayamae felt anger build intensely inside her chest, burning hot. She could feel the boy's pain as if it were her own. She gave out a loud cry before running in for an attack to his back. He turned when he heard her cry, catching her sword between his hands.

Orochimaru gave her a snake-like smile. "So good you see you again, Nayamae! It's been such a long time!" he said while dodging another attack from her. He had pulled a blade out from his own pocket to block her own.

"I can't say I've enjoyed coming back here," she replied as their blades collided. "I'm not letting you experiment on these children anymore!" She continued to come at him, making her attacks as random as she could.

"Oh? Would you like to take their place?" he asked cunningly.

She bared her teeth and growled. "Haven't you had enough of me?" she asked, attempting to stab him in his side.

"My dear, never!" He moved around her sword, giving her a hard kick to her stab wound, sending her to the ground with a thud.

She landed near the table where the boy lay still. Pain had shot through the still healing wound, throbbing incessantly and echoing in her ribs. The boy turned his head towards her, looking at her with blind eyes. She felt her skin burning hotter, she growled deep in her throat as she turned to Orochimaru again. "What have you done with my kitsunebi?" she demanded, struggling to sit up.

"Look at the boy," he replied, gesturing towards the table. "It's the only thing that's keeping them alive while I do my work!" Nayamae had pulled herself up against the table. As she looked down at the boy, taking in his marked skin and blind eyes, she noticed a small glow in the middle of his chest, surrounding his heart. "I've found your fire to be quite useful in keeping subjects alive. To remove it would kill them." She continued to stare down at the boy, feeling immense guilt that the boy was still alive for such torture. It was her fault he was still breathing. Her fists clenched on the table.

"Now what I would like to know is," Orochimaru continued, as he sauntered towards her, "who undid the seal I created? And how?" He was close enough to touch her.

"Why don't you ask him _yourself!_ " she yelled, quickly driving her sword through his stomach. Orochimaru gasped and gripped the blade.

"You bitch!" he shouted, quickly making symbols with his hands and then pressing his hand against her forehead. Nayamae's vision swirled and her grip fell from her sword. She fell to her knees at his feet, unsure of what was happening. "Tell me," Orochimaru said through clenched teeth, "who undid the seal I created?"

Nayamae felt like she was about to throw up. She began to speak before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth. "A leaf shinobi named Kakashi Hatake. He used his sharingan." Bile rose in her throat.

He knelt down and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her face up next to his. "Were you helping him to come here?"

She tried to keep her mouth shut, but she spoke anyway. "Y-yes!" she cried, holding the hand he had gripping her hair. "T-there are t-two others with him!" she added. "A man named Miro and another named Might Guy." He released her head, throwing her back onto the floor at his feet. She felt horrible. Her vision continued to spin and she couldn't tell where or what she was looking at. She tried to keep herself grounded to the floor.

Despite the sword through his middle, Orochimaru seemed to be functioning perfectly fine. He pulled her sword out and threw it onto the ground beside her. Just to prove he was feeling well, he gave her a swift kick to her head, knocking her out completely. It didn't take him long before he had made a new seal on the back of her left hand, this one he was sure no one could remove.

Kabuto had entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "Orochimaru-sama! We have some visitors."

Orochimaru looked up from Nayamae. "How many?"

"Three men. Two of them are ANBU."

He nodded. "Start a fire. We'll be out of here before they find them." He looked at the boy still lying unresponsive on the table. "This trial wasn't working anyway. We'll have to try something else." He knelt beside Nayamae. "As for this one, she'll take care of our visitors if the fire doesn't quite stop them." He pressed his fingers to the new seal and she opened her eyes. Instead of brown they were red. "Excellent," he said, pleased. "Nayamae, we have some unwelcome visitors. Show them out."

Wordlessly, she pulled herself up, grabbed her sword, and swiftly exited the room. Orochimaru turned to Kabuto. "Put him with the others," he ordered, gesturing to the boy. "Then we leave."

* * *

Despite being the last one to fall asleep, Kakashi was the first one to wake. The sky hadn't even begun to turn pink and was still quite dark. He stood and started packing the camp. As he moved through the camp, he nudged Guy and Miro awake.

"We need to get going. Now," Kakashi said, while Miro rubbed the sleep from his eyes and Guy immediately stood, looking well rested.

"I'm getting too old for this," Miro complained, popping his back.

"Nonsense!" Guy exclaimed. "The power of _youth_ runs in all of us!" He struck a pose, embarrassing himself in front of the other two men.

"Right," Kakashi said, zipping his bag closed. "Let's go."

Following Kakashi, the three men tracked Nayamae's trail. After about an hour, they found the creek bed where she had tried carving into the end of a stick. Wood shavings littered the small bank beside the water. After stopping for a drink, they continued on. Kakashi felt as though they were getting close. He had noticed a suspicious lack of animals the further they went. It was just past early morning by the time they had found a puddle of blood staining the base of a tree.

"We can't know for sure that it's _her_ blood, Kakashi," reasoned Miro.

"No," he reluctantly agreed, "but it is on the same path she took. Whose else could it be?"

"What about an animal? Maybe a hunter got its prey?" Guy suggested.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kakashi muttered, thinking of Orochimaru. He shook his head. "No, if it was an animal attack there would be fur or feathers. There's just blood here. Plus there hasn't been an animal around here for the last ten miles." He looked at the puddle again, noticing the trail of blood that followed behind it. They followed the spots of blood until they suddenly stopped.

"There was a struggle," Miro said, pointing to the grass that had obvious footprints pressing the blades down. "She was wounded here and took off that way. Must have gotten caught by that tree."

"But where did they go from there?" Guy asked, looking around. "There's not much but more forest beyond here. Except," he said, pointing a finger to a distant rocky hillside, "that sure has potential for a hideout."

The three of them agreed to go towards the hillside. At the base of the hill was a cave.

"Be on the lookout for boobytraps," warned Kakashi. "We are dealing with Orochimaru, so if anyone finds anything, either Nayamae, the children, or Orochimaru himself, call it over the headset. The signal may cut out in the cave so if no one responds and you're in danger, get out."

They put the portable radios in their pockets and in their ears, before entering the cave and spreading out.

* * *

It wasn't dark in the cave, like Kakashi initially thought it would be. Torches soon began to light the halls as the cave walls turned into solid corridors. He couldn't hear anything down any hall he passed, but behind several doors he heard strange noises. He decided against opening any doors with loud growling coming from the other side.

It wasn't long before Guy whispered over the radio. "I smell smoke," he said. "We need to move quickly. Oh!"

"What is it?" responded Miro.

"I've found them!" Guy exclaimed. "I've found them! I'm on the west side. Follow the smell of smoke! Hurry!"

"I'm close, I'll be there shortly," replied Miro.

"On my way," Kakashi said as he began to run towards the other side of the hideout. He stopped suddenly when he saw someone else was standing in the middle of the corridor. She looked as if she had been waiting for him. Her sword was drawn, but hung loosely in her hand at her side. From his end of the hall, he could see her eyes glowing dark red.

"Miro, Guy, I've found Nayamae." Static echoed in his ear. "I've found Nayamae," he repeated. "She's armed. I think Orochimaru got to her before we got here."

In a flash, Nayamae was standing in front of Kakashi, her sword aimed at his throat. He smacked the blade away before she could stab him, bringing his foot up and kicking the sword from her hand. She let the sword go, reaching for the kunai in her pocket. He grabbed one of his own kunai, meeting hers with a loud clang. The color of her eyes unsettled him as they pushed against each other's strength. He pushed her back against the wall, but she pressed back, equally meeting his force with a low growl in her throat.

"What has he done to you?" Kakashi grunted, struggling against her. She growled again, baring her teeth at him. He felt her body immediately get hotter as she formed a ball of fire in her free hand. She tried to shove it in his face, but he threw her to the ground behind him, watching as she rolled back up to a kneeling position.

He heard static in his ear as she immediately jumped at him, her nails suddenly longer than they had been. "Ka-wh-re you? Ge-! we have-ren!-ire!" He couldn't understand what Miro was saying over the radio. The static was too great and he was too preoccupied fighting with Nayamae. There was no moment in their fight he could respond to them. He was on the ground now, holding her hands away from his face as she tried to scratch him. He had to somehow get his headband up and get her to look at his sharingan.

Suddenly, she let out a loud cry that sounded animalistic. Her skin was burning hot to the touch as she stopped attacking Kakashi and rolled off to the side, writhing on the floor. Kakashi watched as she seized, trembling horribly as waves of tension reverberated throughout her body. He suddenly noticed the black mark on her hand as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Her nails dug into the floor, leaving deep marks. Thinking quickly, he lifted his headband and began to work on undoing the seal.

This seal was different this time. It was more complex than the previous one, but seemed more loosely attached to her. It wasn't in any particular shape, but it didn't really matter. It felt like hours before Nayamae had even begun to stop seizing. He hadn't been able to remove the seal, only suppress its power. He would have to try again later. Kakashi could smell the smoke heavily now. The fire was getting closer to them. They needed to move. He finished just as he saw the flames begin coming around the corner and down the corridor. When he looked back down at Nayamae, there was instead a small fox. Without thinking, he picked up the fox, tucked it into his arms, and began to run out of the cave.

* * *

 **Alright so there's a lot of stuff going on and there's a lot of stuff I want to put into this fic so we shall see where this takes us! I'm excited to write this all out, even though it's certainly not one of my more popular stories, but that's okay. :) I write because I enjoy it not for the views.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to leave a review and give me some feedback! Let me know what you think should come out of this or something I should have done differently.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	9. Changes

Kakashi eventually found his way to the entrance of Orochimaru's hideout, holding the fox in his arms. He turned his radio on. "Guy, Miro, where are you? I've made it out. I have Nayamae."

"Come back the way we came," responded Guy's voice. "We got the children out."

"I'll meet with you soon," Kakashi replied. He adjusted his hold on the fox and after getting further away from the cave entrance on top of another hill, he turned back just as the entire hillside collapsed on itself, creating a large cloud of dirt and smoke. Ashes and dirt flew gently in the air like snow. He turned his back to the growing cloud and started to return to the group.

When he arrived, they were all seated on the ground, sharing a bit of food and water. Guy was helping a boy with cloudy eyes guide the food to his mouth while Miro sat taking notes of the rest of the children's conditions. One girl had a dark green mark splattered across her right eye and cheek. Another had her fingers webbed together. Another boy had his left arm completely missing, the bandage needing an obvious changing. Kakashi took in the rest of the children as they sat and ate greedily.

"Christ," Kakashi muttered under his breath.

Miro looked up from his notes. "Kakashi! We were beginning to worry."

He shook his head. "Unneeded," he said, carefully sitting on the ground beside Miro.

"Nayamae?" Miro questioned, gesturing to the fox in his arms.

Kakashi nodded. "Orochimaru got a hold of her before we got there. I tried to undo whatever seal he put on her, but I only suppressed whatever it was doing. This was the result." He laid her carefully on the grass beside him. "She'll wake up soon enough, I suppose."

"We need to get back to the village," Guy said, replacing the bandage on the boy's amputated arm. "We can't have these children out here much longer without proper medical attention."

"He's right," Miro said, getting up. "We need to start moving." With little coaxing, the children who couldn't walk were put onto backs, while the rest walked beside the adults as they made their return to their village. Kakashi made a makeshift sling to put the fox into and slung across his middle. The smallest of the children hung on his back.

* * *

The trek back to the village was long and slow. It took nearly twice as long to return as it did to leave. It was very late at night by the time the group returned to the village. Parents and families were thrilled to be reunited with their children, but it was short lived. All of the children needed immediate medical attention. Kakashi, Guy, and Miro escorted the families to the hospital before reporting to the Hokage.

After explaining what had happened in finding the kidnapped children, they turned to the other issues at hand: what to do about Orochimaru and what to do with Nayamae. Nayamae was still a fox and unconscious in the sling Kakashi had hung around himself.

"How long will she be like that?" the Hokage asked, moving the fabric of the sling aside to peek at the fox.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm not sure. Orochimaru put some kind of controlling seal on her. I didn't have time to remove it properly, but I did manage to suppress it for now."

"Hmm," the Hokage hummed with a nod. "No harm in trying again later." He moved to sit behind his desk. "As of now, Orochimaru is still out there. You may have freed those children and that kitsune, but without him, there's no telling if they'll get back to normal."

"Suppose we try using the kitsune?" Miro suggested. "She's worked for Orochimaru for quite some time now and may know how to track him down."

"Explain," the Hokage ordered, folding his hands under his chin.

"She probably won't agree to that," Kakashi interrupted before Miro could continue. "She's still loyal to him on some level, regardless of any experiment he's done to her."  
"But you said she wanted to kill him," Miro countered. "I don't think she's as loyal to him as you think."

Kakashi shrugged again. "Maybe not, but we won't know that for sure until she tells us herself."

"You say she's loyal to Orochimaru, what do you mean by that?" the Hokage asked.

"She's a kitsune," Kakashi replied. "She's only capable of being loyal to one person at a time." _You can be loyal to different people in different ways._ The words she had said to him at the bottom of the pit suddenly echoed across his memory. "Except," he trailed off, lost in thought. He thought of the boy he had seen in her memory, Ryu. Orochimaru had killed him. Was it because Nayamae had lost focus while working for Orochimaru? Did he kill him to remind her of who she was suppose to stay loyal to?

"What?" Guy asked. Kakashi shook his head of this thoughts and repeated what she had said to him long before.

"It sounds to me like she _can_ be loyal to more than one person," he explained. "She just chooses who that is and why she's loyal to them."

The Hokage looked intently at Kakashi. "You should make her loyal to you, Hatake. Get her to trust you completely." Kakashi blinked.

"How do you suggest he do that?" Miro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Out of all of us in here, he's the only one she's consistently seen and interacted with. She seems to at least trust you on some level. He's saved her life more than once, whether she wanted him to or not."

"Yeah, but-"

"It won't take overnight. You'll have to constantly be with her. Do _whatever_ you have to to make her loyal to you until we can use her to capture Orochimaru. It'll save the village and anyone else under his influence." It was hard to argue with such a statement. Save the village. Capture Orochimaru. Kakashi left with Nayamae still in the sling and an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

* * *

Kakashi entered his apartment, shutting the door softly behind him. He carefully unraveled the sling, lifting the fox out of the fabric. She was very light in his arms, her orange and black fur soft against his skin. Gently he set her on a cushion in the middle of his living room floor. He stood back and watched her for a moment. _Make her loyal to you._ The Hokage's order echoed in his head. How the hell was he suppose to do that? He didn't think he was likeable enough to be able to do that. As he watched, he couldn't tell if she was dead or if she was still breathing. Her tiny chest rose and fell in slow, shallow breaths.

He turned to his kitchen and got a bowl, filled it with water, and then set it beside the pillow. It was his assumption that she would be thirsty whenever she would wake up.

He decided she would be okay for a little while he changed and showered. When he returned, she was resting her head beside the half-empty water bowl, her snout between her paws, and her eyes closed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, fixing them tiredly on Kakashi as he stood in the doorway of his bedroom.

"So you are alive," he stated, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. "I was beginning to wonder." He had already replaced the mask over his face while his sharingan eye remained closed. Her eyes were still a dark red, but she hadn't moved to attack him like she had before. He sat down on the floor in front of her as she lifted her head. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked. She shook her head slightly. "Orochimaru put another seal on you to control you. You attacked me. Do you remember that?" A flicker of remembrance flashed across her eyes, but she shook her head anyway. He sighed and threw the towel behind him into his room.

Turning back to her, he continued, "Can you talk when you're like this? As a fox?" She shook her head. "Figures," he said exasperated. "Alright then, listen. You're staying here until you're back to normal and we can figure out how to get that seal off of you. Well, normal as in back to being a functioning human." She watched him silently, her red eyes focused on his one open eye. "You stay here. You don't go sneaking off places where I can't find you. You're under my supervision."

She made a face that was obviously a face of displeasure. "It's not my idea!" he defended irritably. "The Hokage thinks you could be a great asset to us. You would act as an informant and go on assigned missions for us. You would report to me what you find. I know it probably doesn't sound great to you, but it's better than sitting in a jail cell." He didn't mention to her what the Hokage had said about manipulating her to be loyal to him. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that. Nayamae snorted, putting her head back down on her paws.

He paused thinking of what to say next. "You could help us a great deal," he continued. "Bring Orochimaru to justice even," he suggested. "Your knowledge of what he does and how he works is valuable." She looked down at the water bowl, avoiding his gaze now. "We could help you," he added softly. He sighed again when she didn't react. How could she _possibly_ still feel loyal towards Orochimaru after all he had done to her? It didn't make sense to him.

He was about to get up and leave the room when he paused. "One more thing, your kitsunebi. You'll eventually die without getting the rest of it back, right?" She glanced up at him, answering with a small nod. "I will do everything I can to help you get the rest of it back without killing those kids. I promise." She lifted her head again, staring at him intently. He had to admit, the color of her eyes still unnerved him, but they didn't hold any killing intent as they had before. They were gentle as they regarded him, looking at his face, down his body, and then back to his face. "Right," he said awkwardly. "Well, good night." He stood and went to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him without looking back at the fox who continued to watch his every move.

Kakashi soon found that having Nayamae in this form was similar to keeping a pet. Although he knew what she really was, he sometimes forgot she was actually a human in the form of a fox, until she would growl at him for sitting too close to her.

At first, she kept to herself, refusing to move far from the cushion she had moved beside the glass door to the balcony. For hours, she would sit and stare out at the village, watching the people walk below. Eventually, she allowed Kakashi to come and sit next to her for a short while, but he didn't see the appeal of looking out a window for so long, soon getting up and finding a book to read instead. A few times he had tried to stroke her fur, earning him a quick snap from her teeth. Only once had she allowed him to pet her for a few seconds before she snapped at him again.

Kakashi realized though that whenever he pulled out a book, she almost immediately became interested in what he was reading. She stuck her nose under his arm to give herself room in his lap just to look at the pages. He wondered if she had ever learned to read, even a little bit. Her curiosity was obvious. He was unsure of when he started to read aloud from his books, but it was clear she was trying to follow along with him. She let out a disappointed whine whenever he closed the book and put it away. She had begun to really enjoy hearing him read to her.

After nearly a month, Kakashi was beginning to get impatient. Nayamae showed no signs of changing back into a human, but was ever so slowly getting more comfortable being around him. He wondered if she had any idea of what he was trying to do, although even he didn't know what he was trying to do. How did one get a kitsune to become loyal to you?

During this time, Kakashi gave the Hokage updates on Nayamae. His reports hardly ever changed. Kakashi wasn't sure what else he could do to gain her trust, and the Hokage gave him a little advice, but his suggestions would have to wait until she was human again. Guy wasn't much help either. He had suggested to try to impress her with his abilities, but Kakashi wasn't sure she would be impressed with anything he could do. Miro had decided he didn't want anything to do with the kitsune and refused to even talk with Kakashi about her.

Another month passed. Kakashi had been getting assigned missions again. While he was gone, Nayamae walked freely about his apartment. It wasn't very big, only with a kitchen, sitting room, a single bedroom, and a bathroom. She was dying to go outside the village again. From her spot at the window, she could barely see the tops of the trees. Kakashi's apartment was closer to the center of the village, dashing any hopes of an easy escape. Although, she had to admit she didn't want to leave. She enjoyed the quiet she had living here with Kakashi, even if she didn't always enjoy his company, but she couldn't quite shake the fear of something bad happening to her. There wasn't any possible way Orochimaru would be able to easily find her, was there?

Nayamae woke up suddenly when she heard Kakashi returning. It was extremely late at night, nearer to morning than the night. He didn't greet her, instead immediately going to cook a meal for himself. He typically ate his meals in the kitchen where she wouldn't see his face, but Nayamae sensed something was wrong. She didn't know what it was, but she could sense Kakashi was off. She peeked her head around the edge of the counter to look at him.

She hadn't seen his actual face since she had pulled his mask down to kiss him. As she looked, she saw him staring blankly down at the meal he had made, not moving, tension rising in the air. His mask was still covering his face, chopsticks in his hand. He then shook his head, grabbed the plate, and then moved to the sitting room. Nayamae followed him, unsure of this change in behavior.

She sat across from him at the low table, looking at him as if to ask what was bothering him. Kakashi was typically quiet, but this silence was unnerving. His meal sat untouched in front of him. He stared blankly at the meal with his one good eye. He looked greatly troubled.

"Hey, Nayamae," he suddenly started, not looking up at her. His voice was tense. "Have you ever given advice to someone and found that they had taken it to mean something different? So much so that they killed their entire family?" The question shocked her, but she was confused on how he expected her to answer. He didn't say anything else as he rose from the table, leaving his meal untouched. What on earth was he talking about?

Nayamae was unsure of what to do as he went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. She went to the door, pressing her ear against the wood. She couldn't hear him inside and assumed he was trying to sleep, but she was bothered by his behavior. Raising a paw to the door, she scratched and whined until Kakashi opened the door suddenly, startling her back a moment.

"What?" he growled angrily. She stared at him before bolting into his room and jumping onto his bed. "Hey!" he exclaimed as she curled herself up into a ball at the end of his bed. He tried to get her to move, but she refused to budge. "Fine," he said, throwing his hands up. "Fine, just take the end of the bed. Fine." He fell onto the bed, throwing the covers over his head.

Nayamae waited several minutes before she heard Kakashi's breath become more even. Carefully, she moved from her spot by his feet until she was near his head. Finding the edge of the blanket, she buried her nose under the cover until she found a comfortable spot against Kakashi's back. She kept her nose out of the cover so she could breathe comfortably, falling asleep beside him.

* * *

 **Woo! Character development! I really hope you're enjoying this story. It's probably not the best or the most interesting, but that's totally fine.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review telling me what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	10. Back Again

Kakashi awoke the next day, feeling rested, but still mentally exhausted from what he had seen the night before. Bodies were piled in the streets where the Uchiha clan resided. Blood stained the walls, floors, and everything else. The only survivor was a young Uchiha boy named Sasuke. Reports said that his older brother, Itachi, was behind all of the killings. He had murdered his whole family, but had spared his brother. Kakashi blamed himself for not giving Itachi better guidance when he was his superior. He should have known something was going to happen. Why hadn't he seen it?

Kakashi moved to sit up, throwing the blankets off of himself, but he felt something warm laying beside him. He suddenly jumped out of the bed, tripping on his own feet, and falling with a loud crash on the floor. "W-what the hell? What are you doing?!" he cried, standing up, steadying himself on the dresser behind him.

Nayamae was now sitting up in the bed, awake after hearing Kakashi crashing about. "What's going on?" she asked, looking around frantically, then down at herself. "Oh my god!" she cried, quickly grabbing the blankets and covering herself with them. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized quickly. "I'm so sorry!"

"What are you doing in my bed?" Kakashi demanded, trying to regain his composure. He had gone to bed seeing her as a fox lying at his feet. Now she was human again, frantically trying to cover herself with his blankets.

"I'm sorry!" she repeated, hiding underneath his covers. "I just thought…! I didn't mean to…! I'm just…! I'm sorry! I didn't know this was going to happen!"

"You've been a fox this entire time and just _now_ you become human again? I can't believe this!"

"Just hand me some clothes or something so I don't have to keep hiding in your damn bed sheets!" she yelled from beneath the covers, suddenly angry.

Kakashi turned around to face his dresser with an exasperated groan, but paused before he opened a drawer. He looked back at the mound under his blanket, tempted to pull them off just to see her reaction. He had taken a several steps towards the bed, his hand outstretched to grab the fabric, before he heard a low growl coming from the mound.

"You yank these sheets off me, you won't live to see the rest of the day," Nayamae threatened.

"Fair enough," he muttered, turning back to the dresser. He threw a shirt and pants onto the bed and went to the door. "Clothes are beside you. I'll be in the sitting room."

"You better be, you pervert," she called to him as he shut the door behind him.

He sighed again and sat at the low table, waiting for her to come out. After a few minutes, Nayamae came out of his room and sat across from him, her arms crossed over her chest. The gray shirt she was wearing was obviously too big, and so were the pants. She had found a spare wrap to tie around her waist to keep them up. Her hair was still a mess, but it looked like she had at least attempted to fix it.

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but she started first. "Before you ask me anything, what happened last night? You were acting weird and then you asked me that question. What happened that bothered you so much?"

He looked at her, her expression showed an odd mixture of annoyance and concern. He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know all the details yet," he started. "Someone I know murdered his entire clan, leaving only his little brother alive." His voice went quiet. "I could have stopped it."

"Why didn't you?" she asked, not meaning for her question to be rude.

"I didn't know."

"You didn't know it was going to happen?" He nodded. "Then how can you blame yourself for what you didn't know?"

"He was under my supervision. I should have seen something." She was quiet. Silence passed between them for several uncomfortable minutes. He exhaled heavily. "Anyway, we need to report to the Hokage. Show him you're back to normal."

Nayamae scoffed. "Why do we have to do that?"

"Because you're still my responsibility."

"I don't need a babysitter," she countered irritably.

"No, maybe not. But you're still in my house. Remember, it's better than a jail cell," he reminded her. She made a face. "I should probably call Kyrie as well, get her to examine you. Quick question," he said, reaching for a book on the table, "did you ever learn to read?"

She glanced at the book. "No."

He nodded. "I was just wondering," he said, flipping through the pages. "I wondered because you were following along whenever I read aloud."

She looked down at her lap. "I was trying to figure it out," she said quietly.

He closed the book. "Hey, don't think I'm trying to make it sound like a bad thing you were doing that! I don't want to discourage you from learning!"

"Then will you teach me?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him hopefully.

Kakashi was about to say he wasn't a teacher, but slowly realized this would be a good opportunity to get her to trust him. He put the book down, shrugging. "I guess," he said slowly. "I'm really not a good teacher though." She stayed quiet, smiling back down at her lap. He thought she looked much more pleasant smiling instead of glaring at him liked she usually did. "I did some research on you," he said, changing the subject. Her brows furrowed. "Well, not _you_ specifically. What you are."

"You have questions then," she stated.

He nodded. "A lot of the illustrations had the foxes with multiple tails. Some of them having as many as nine. How come you only have one?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "It comes with age," she replied. "The more tails a kitsune has usually means they're much older and wiser."

"That's what I thought, but I wanted to confirm. So then, you only have one, how old are you?" Kakashi asked. "You don't _look_ very old."

Nayamae shook her head. "No, I'm not. Nor am I very wise, if that wasn't obvious by my life choices. I'm only twenty, I think."

"You think?"

"My memories only go back as far as ten years ago when I was with my father. He always told me I had probably gotten amnesia from a head injury during the war." She tapped her forehead as if pointing to a long-healed wound.

Kakashi thought of the memory he had seen of a younger Ryu and Nayamae playing through a house. They couldn't have been much older than twelve, maybe a little younger. He remembered the room they had interrupted with all the armed soldiers and how Nayamae had focused on one man. The man had been huge, but he oddly seemed very gentle.

"Was he one of the men in the memory I saw?"

She nodded. "Yes," she answered in a quiet voice. "That was Abba."

"And the woman who yelled at you? That was Shinjou, right? The woman who wants you dead?" She nodded again. Kakashi was getting more information from her than he thought he would. It was almost too easy. "What happened to Ryu? You said Orochimaru killed him?"

Immediately, Nayamae looked fiercely infuriated. "Orochimaru _did_ kill him!" She stood up quickly. " _Don't ask me about him again. You_ saw _what happened._ " She stormed off into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. After a moment or two, Kakashi heard water running in the shower.

* * *

Nayamae didn't come out of the bathroom for nearly an hour. Instead of staying at the table waiting for her, Kakashi had called Kyrie, telling her Nayamae needed a health examination. He then searched through his dresser to try to find a pair of pants that may fit her better, but didn't find any. He called Kyrie again, asking her to bring a couple sets of clothes with her for Nayamae.

Nayamae finally came out of the bathroom just as Kakashi was finishing a meal he had made. Quickly, he pulled his mask back over his face when he heard the door opening. Her plate sat opposite of his at the table. "Kyrie is on her way here," Kakashi told her as she sat across from him. "She'll have clothes for you."

"Good. Then you won't have to keep staring at me so much," she said, taking a mouthful of rice.

"I'm not staring," Kakashi said defensively.

"That's what _you_ think," she countered while chewing. "I'm just your 'responsibility' so you're just doing your job at keeping an eye on me."

He opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly noticed the mark on her left hand. The seal was still there. He hadn't removed it yet. "Give me your hand," he demanded suddenly, catching Nayamae mid-bite.

"Hey-!" she exclaimed as he grabbed her hand to examine it. The mark looked lighter in color than Kakashi remembered it initially being, but that may have been the lighting in the cave.

"Do you remember how you got this?" he asked her, glancing up at her face before looking back at the mark.

Nayamae's mind dashed through her memories of that night. She remembered fighting Orochimaru, but she wasn't sure where or when he had made the new mark. "You'll be able to remove it right?" she asked. "Like the beetle?"

"It's possible," he replied, letting her have her hand back. "I tried to remove it before, but I didn't have a chance to finish."

She held her hand back out to him. "Then can you finish it right now?"

"Finish eating first," he said, pushing her hand away.

She frowned, but she returned to eating anyway. When she was done, she went to hold her hand out again, but suddenly froze. "Someone's coming," she said hurriedly, dashing to Kakashi's bedroom and slamming the door behind her.

Kakashi still sat at the table, wondering what she was talking about, when he heard a knock on his door. He jumped up to answer it, finding Kyrie standing on the landing with a large suitcase at her side.

"Hello, Kakashi-san!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," he replied, letting her inside. "Glad I caught you while you were still in town," he said, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, I'm always around here nowadays, dear. I'm called out a little more often than I would prefer, but patients need to be seen." Kyrie set her suitcase on the floor. "Speaking of patients," she stated, glancing around the apartment, "where is she?"

"She bolted into my bedroom. I guess she heard you coming up the stairs."

Kyrie furrowed her brow. "That's odd. I'm normally very quiet."

He went to his bedroom door. "Nayamae! Come out of there. It was just Kyrie."

"Oh, Kakashi!" Kyrie said quickly. "Did you tell her about…?" Her voice trailed off when Nayamae opened the door. Kakashi shook his head at Kyrie, answering her unvoiced question. "Ah, Naya! Good to see you again!" She looked at her clothes, putting her hands on her hips and tutting. "Oh, dear. I've got you some real clothes in my bag. Come, you can change while I examine you. Kakashi, wait out here. We won't be long." Nayamae didn't have a chance to protest before Kyrie pushed her back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Alright then," Kyrie started while Nayamae removed Kakashi's clothes. "Anything in particular bothering you?" she asked. "Your heart beating normally? Lungs giving you breath? Your skin isn't dry?"

Nayamae shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine," she replied. "Honest."

"Well, I'll determine that for real," Kyrie replied, grabbing a stethoscope out of her bag. She then went through the process of listening to her lungs and then her heart. "Does your heart normally beat that fast?" Kyrie inquired.

Nayamae shrugged. "I suppose."

"Hmm," Kyrie hummed. "Hold still for me." Kyrie stood directly in front of Nayamae, took off her glasses, then crossed her arms under her chest. Suddenly, Kyrie's eyes went completely white as she concentrated on Nayamae. "Just as I thought," she muttered after several minutes as her eyes went back to their normal yellow.

"Is something wrong?" Nayamae asked unsuredly.

Kyrie put her glasses back on her face. "Do kitsunes normally have that little kitsunebi surrounding their heart?" she asked suddenly.

Nayamae blinked. Had Kyrie been around other kitsunes? "No," she admitted. "Do you know about…?"

"About Orochimaru stealing your fox fire? Yes. Kakashi's had me look into it. It's not easy when your kind is so few and becoming even fewer." Kyrie reached into her suitcase and pulled out some clothes, handing them to Nayamae. "I'm doing what I can," she continued, "though I can't say it's looking like you'll be getting it back anytime soon." She shook her head with a sigh. "Whatever evil Orochimaru did to those kids made them completely dependent on your fox fire to keep them alive."

Nayamae looked at the clothes in her lap. "If that's the case," she said quietly, "let them keep it."

Kyrie moved some loose hair behind her ear. "Everything will be okay," she assured her, sitting beside her. "I'm going to do the best I can."

Nayamae nodded. "Thank you for the clothes," she said softly after a few minutes of silence passed.

"You're welcome."

After Nayamae was properly dressed, they exited Kakashi's room together. Kakashi looked up from the book he was reading. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Perfectly healthy," Kyrie replied.

"Ready to go then?" he asked Nayamae.

"Go?" she asked.

"We have to go see the Hokage, remember?" He shut his book and crossed the room to them. "There are some things the two of us have to discuss with him. Thank you for coming, Kyrie."

"Just call me if you ever need me," she said, waving her hand. "Naya, if he ever gives you any trouble, let me know." She eyed Kakashi before picking up her suitcase and leaving the two alone.

"Those clothes look better on you than mine did," Kakashi said awkwardly.

Nayamae looked down at herself. Kyrie had brought her a light purple top with matching pants. A dark purple wrap tied around her middle, holding the top together. "I guess so. Not so sure purple is my color…"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Anyway, we should go. The Hokage is expecting us."

"Right."

* * *

 **And off they go! I think I have finally laid out how I want this story to go, so I'm excited to finish it out! Which of course, that's not going to be for a while I don't think. There's plenty of content I can put into this story and I'm looking forward to doing it.**

 **What do you think will happen? Tell me about it!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	11. Trial

As they walked through the village towards the Hokage's office building, Kakashi was attempting to give Nayamae instructions. "You should be respectful," he told her, walking slightly ahead of her. "Look at him when he's talking to you. Don't say anything rude." He glanced down at her. "Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nayamae said, waving her hand. "Be polite and keep my mouth shut, got it."

"You _can_ talk," he replied tiredly.

"If you would rather I not say anything rude, then keeping my mouth shut is your best bet," she said matter-of-factly.

Kakashi sighed irritably. "Come on. We're almost there."

They approached the building and climbed the stairs to the upper office of the Hokage. Kakashi stopped Nayamae in front of the door. "Just… try to remember some manners," he urged her.

"Stop worrying about me!" she said, feeling annoyed as they were allowed inside of the office.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi greeted, kneeling in front of the desk where Hiruzen Sarutobi sat. Kakashi glanced at Nayamae who was standing awkwardly beside him. "Psst!" he hissed at her.

"It's alright, Hatake," Sarutobi assured him before Nayamae could bother kneeling as well. "Don't worry about that this time."

Kakashi stood, stealing an annoyed look at Nayamae. "Sir," he began, gesturing to her, "this is the kitsune I was telling you about."

"Yes, I've heard much about you," he said, approaching her. "You're looking in excellent health. Nayamae, isn't it?" She nodded. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, shaking his extended hand.

"Good, good." He returned to sitting behind his desk. "Nayamae, do you have any idea why I wanted to speak with you?" She shook her head. He turned to Kakashi. "You didn't tell her?" he asked, slightly surprised.

Kakashi shook his head. "There wasn't any moment I could have brought it up since you and I last spoke about it," he replied. "Kyrie came in first thing this morning and we walked here immediately after and we couldn't have talked about it in public."

Sarutobi nodded. "Understandable."

Nayamae looked at Kakashi indignantly. "What are you talking about?" She looked at Sarutobi. "Why do you have to be mysterious about whatever this is? Just say it."

"Nayamae," Kakashi warned. "Watch your tone."

"Alright then," the Hokage agreed. "I'll get right to it. Our village is currently under attack by two significant individuals: a man named Orochimaru and a woman named Shinjou. You know them, correct?" Nayamae was frozen to her spot at the sound of their names, but nodded regardless.

The Hokage continued. "Orochimaru, as you know, has done horrible experiments not only on our children, but also on our shinobi. I fear he may be planning to do worse if we don't stop him soon. We _must_ find him. As for Shinjou, her crimes are different. She's brought a plethora of illegal drugs and weapons through an underground Black Market. The drugs she's produced have found their way into our village and have absolutely ruined many good shinobi and their families. If we find and stop her, I believe it will save our village from going to ruin." He leaned forward in his chair, staring intently at Nayamae. "With your help, we can find both Orochimaru and Shinjou and bring them to justice!"

Nayamae stared back at Sarutobi. "You want _me…_ to help _you_?"

He nodded. "Yes," he replied simply.

Nayamae looked to Kakashi, cracking a small smile. "This is a joke right?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's not."

Her smile faded. She began to shake her head. "No," she said flatly. "I won't do it. I can't help you and I won't."

"No?" the Hokage questioned. "You don't want to see Orochimaru be punished for his crimes? Or Shinjou?"

"You're asking me to do something I can't do," she said firmly.

"Why can't you?" Kakashi asked. "It's either you help us or you serve your sentence behind bars."

"Is that what this is?!" she cried angrily. "A trial to see if I would help you?! I will NOT!"

"Nayamae!" Kakashi grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to his side, whispering harshly in her ear. "You can disagree all you want, but think about the consequences!"

"The _consequences_?!" Nayamae shouted, her voice growing louder. "You are asking me to go after the two people who want me _DEAD!_ "

"Kakashi. Nayamae," Sarutobi said firmly, his voice raised above their argument. He was standing now. Kakashi immediately let go of Nayamae's arm. "I understand this is a big decision that cannot be taken lightly," he continued, his voice softer. "However, if you are willing, we must act quickly. I can't give you more than a day to think this over. However, understand that if you are not willing to work alongside us, you will be given a trial and be sentenced for your crimes. Your help in finding the children Orochimaru kidnapped will be considered to alleviate any official punishment." He nodded to Kakashi. "That is all. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said hurriedly, as Nayamae immediately stormed out of the room. Kakashi followed her out, having to run to catch up with her. He grabbed onto her arm again and pulled her into an empty room, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Stop manhandling me!" Nayamae cried, prying his fingers off her arm. "I am not a doll that can be tossed around!"

"I had told you to be respectful!" Kakashi said angrily. "You were inappropriate and out of line!"

" _I told you,_ you're asking me to go after the two people in this world who would _LOVE_ to see my head on a silver platter!" She glared up at him. "I have feelings too, ya know! I'm human too! I'm not just some half-breed tool you can use however you wish! I don't care what your Hokage wants me to do!"

He stepped towards her intimidatingly, pressing her back against a wall. "You _should_ care," he told her. He was inches from her face. "Funny thing you should know, if I remember correctly, you stole village secrets and had planned to give them to an enemy of ours. AND if I remember correctly, by law, _that_ is punishable by _death_. With that sort of a charge, it doesn't matter what you did to save those kids. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Nayamae stared at him, tears rimming her eyes. She blinked them away. " _How dare you,_ " she growled.

"So if I were you," Kakashi continued, "I would choose the option that has a better chance of living."

"I'm dying anyway so what does it matter?!" Nayamae cried, pushing his chest. "What does it matter, Kakashi?!"

He was taken aback for a moment, shocked by what she had said. "Tell me something," he said, grabbing her hands to keep her from hitting him again. "Why didn't you ever leave? You've stayed at my apartment for the last two months and you never bothered to leave. Why is that?"

"Because you kept me prisoner-"

"I did not. The door was never locked," he interrupted. "You could have left any time, but you stayed. Why did you stay?"

Nayamae forgot her anger for a moment, considering Kakashi's question. She had thought about leaving, but only to run around outside of the village, yet had planned to return afterwards. She honestly hadn't noticed that she could just leave either, but at the same time she had never bothered to check the door. The only thing truly keeping her indoors was her fear that Orochimaru would find her and finally kill her. As far as Nayamae knew, Shinjou was on the other side of the continent and was much easier to avoid. Staying with Kakashi had made her feel safe.

"Because…" her voice faded. She looked at her hands in his, pausing to stare at them. He was being gentle now and she didn't like the sudden change in mood. She wrenched her hands from his, placing them firmly at her sides. She looked fiercely into his eye. "Fine!" she said at last. "I'll help you track them down, but I'm no good to you dead, so you better keep me alive!"

"I'll go inform the Hokage," he stated, turning around to leave the room.

"Wait!" she cried, stopping him at the door. "I need to talk to Kyrie first before you tell him anything."

"Kyrie?" he questioned. "What for? You just saw her this morning."

"It's something personal," she replied quickly. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as the tension between them died down. "I have some questions for her."

"Well," he considered, "I can show you where she lives, but there's no guarantee you'll see her any time soon. She may be out tending to some patients." He opened the door. "I'll take you there, but we really should go and talk to the Hokage right now."

She shook her head. "Please, that can wait," she insisted. "He gave me a whole day, didn't he? It can wait. Besides," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "I may change my mind."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're blackmailing me."

"Only slightly," she admitted teasingly. "Now can you show me where Kyrie lives?"

He sighed irritably. "Fine. Come on."

* * *

Kyrie looked up from sorting a basket of medicine bottles to the sound of the door to her clinic opening, ringing a little bell. She set the basket of unsorted bottles on the counter, pushed her glasses back up on her face, and walked to the front counter.

"Back to see me already?" Kyrie asked, surprised to find Nayamae and Kakashi standing in the waiting room. "Did something happen?"

"She needed to talk to you," Kakashi said, indicating to Nayamae who had been admiring a painting on the wall. "Said it was important."

"KYYYYYRRRRIIIIIEEEEE!" Another voice shouted loudly from the other side of the clinic before Kyrie could reply. "KYYYRRIIEE!"

"Just a moment," Kyrie apologized with obvious tiredness to her voice. "My sister, Sayo… WHAT?!" she yelled walking away from the counter.

"She does have other patients," Kakashi said to Nayamae. "You sure this can't wait?"

Nayamae sighed. "It probably can for a little while, but it _is_ important."

"What is so important that you can't wait?"

She shot him a glare. "She gave me the impression that I'm not the first kitsune she's interacted with. I need to know what she knows about my kind."

"And this can't wait?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Can you?" she retorted, annoyed. "There's more, but I don't want to discuss it with _you_."

He scoffed. "I didn't want to hear about it anyway," he muttered, his feelings of anger returning to him from their earlier argument.

Kyrie returned a few minutes later. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized, cleaning her glasses on the edge of her coat. "My sister had a problem with one of our patients. Nothing to worry about." She smiled brightly at Nayamae. "Well, come on back then, Naya." She waved at her to follow her, walking back down the hallway. She led her to a corner room that smelled strongly of cleaning solution. Nayamae sat on the table while Kyrie took a seat on a wheeled chair. "What seems to be the problem?" Kyrie asked, picking up a clipboard and a pen. "You seemed healthy this morning."

"I just have some questions," Nayamae replied. She told Kyrie about the Hokage's offer and the argument that followed with Kakashi. Kyrie listened intently. "You know I'm dying. Albeit slowly," Nayamae said almost too bluntly, "but I don't think they understand that. My question is, how long do you think I can live with what little kitsunebi I have left?" She had been pondering this question since she had learned she wouldn't get her fox fire back.

Kyrie nibbled on the end of her pen, looking thoughtful. "Well," she replied, taking the pen out of her mouth, "that really depends. You may have a year, or many, months, or even weeks depending on how careful you are while using your kitsunebi."

"But how do you know that?" she questioned. "I can't be the only kitsune you've dealt with if that's what you think."

Kyrie shook her head. "No, you're not, but you're only the second one I've dealt with. The other one was very old when she lost her kitsunebi. I think because you're younger, you'll probably last longer than she did. This is just a theory though." Nayamae didn't feel comforted by this. "But on the other hand," Kyrie continued, "it is possible that you could just live out a normal life without your lack of kitsunebi to bother you. You would probably just have a normal human lifespan instead of a significantly longer one of a kitsune's."

"I suppose," she said, her mind whirring.

"If you want, I could monitor your health to make sure nothing major is happening just yet," Kyrie suggested. "Come in once every other month and we can check your heart and your kitsunebi." She stood and put the clipboard on the counter behind her. "Sit up straight for me," she ordered, taking her glasses off. Her eyes went white again as she examined her. After several minutes, her eyes changed back to yellow. "Nothing's changed since this morning, but I'll go ahead and make note of how you are now." She had picked up the clipboard again and scribbled something. "And since you're going to be going after Orochimaru and Shinjou, I would suggest you monitor yourself too. Any chest pains, any control you have over yourself, anything you think would be a symptom related to your kitsunebi. I'll let Kakashi know to watch out for this stuff too."

Nayamae groaned. "Do you _have_ to tell him?" she asked.

"I tell him what he needs to know and nothing else," Kyrie replied. "He is supposed to be taking care of you anyway." Nayamae made a face. She put her hands on her hips. "He's done quite a lot for you, you know. It wouldn't hurt to say 'thank you' at least once," she chastised. "There's just as much going on with him as there is with you so show a little grace to him, would you?"

Nayamae furrowed her brow. "What's going on with him?"

"Ask him yourself. It seems like you two need to learn to get along better anyway." She sighed. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Nayamae shook her head. "No, that was everything," she said quietly.

"Alright then, get going. You have some work to do, don't you?"

She followed Kyrie back out to the waiting room. Kakashi stood when they entered, shutting the book in his hands and shoving it into one of his pouches. "All good?" Nayamae nodded. Kyrie quickly explained to Kakashi what he needed to monitor for Nayamae's health. "I'll be sure to do that," he said reassuringly. He turned back to Nayamae. "Let's go back and report to the Hokage." She walked towards him, letting him lead her out the door. "Thanks for everything again, Ky."

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kyrie said, holding up a hand. "Not so fast, Kakashi!"

"What?" he asked, looking back at her as they paused in the doorway.

"I have a suggestion first. Before you go and report to the Hokage about her agreement, take some time to sit down and _talk_ to each other. And not in a hostile way." Kyrie pointed at them. "Kakashi, tell _her_ what's going on with you. Naya, tell _him_ what's going on with you. And boom," she clapped her hands together, "mutual understanding." She smiled. "Now, get going you two. The Hokage can wait until tomorrow."

Kakashi and Nayamae stared at Kyrie, then at each other, then at Kyrie again.

"Well, it _is_ getting late…" said Nayamae. She tugged on the front of Kakashi's shirt attempting to lead him out the door. "Let's just go back to your apartment and talk to the Hokage tomorrow. He's not going to go anywhere."

He looked down at her, giving in with a sigh. "Fine. We'll talk to him tomorrow." He turned to Kyrie. "Have a good night, Kyrie."

Kyrie waved. "Good night you two," she said with a smile.

Kakashi and Nayamae looked uncomfortably at each other as they left, avoiding eye contact the rest of the way down the darkening road back to the apartment.

* * *

 **Wow, talk about awkward. Thanks, Kyrie.**

 **Anyway, happy (way belated) Halloween! Just before November hit, I have been stupid busy and had to delay posting this new chapter until now. I'm glad to see there are still people reading this! I'm really having fun writing this story and I can't wait to get it to where I want it to be.**

 **Leave a review to let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	12. Decision

Kakashi and Nayamae continued to walk in an awkward silence down the darkening street. Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he had felt so uncomfortable in a situation. He glanced at Nayamae. She seemed to feel just as uncomfortable as he did. Kyrie had made it seem like she knew something about the two of them they didn't.

 _She acts like we're in a relationship_ , Kakashi thought to himself, shaking his head.

The street was lit by the lights from restaurants and the lamps hanging from ropes across the buildings. The glow was warm and the smell of food inviting. Crowds of people were still milling about the marketplace, even as the sun went down. Conversations were loud as people discussed their plans for an upcoming festival. Laughter echoed across the street. Nayamae glanced into the restaurants as they passed, trying to keep her mouth from watering.

"Kakashi," she said, holding his arm back. "Let's get something to eat."

"There's food at my apartment," he replied flatly, pulling his arm from her hand.

She frowned, but continued to follow him. As they walked, Nayamae felt increasingly uneasy. It wasn't because of Kyrie's comment, but with every person they moved past, she was feeling overwhelmed by sensing everyone's individual patterns. Her head felt dizzy. She reached out and grabbed the edge of Kakashi's shirt, pulling him back.

"Now what?" Kakashi asked, annoyed, looking back at her. "Whoa, hey! Are you okay?" He caught her before she completely lost her balance. "What's wrong?"

"Just tired," she replied unconvincingly.

"Come on," he urged. "We're almost there." Kakashi put his arm under hers and half-carried, half-dragged her down the street. People gave them strange looks as they passed. "Can you use your legs at all?"

"Slow down and I'll be able to," she said tiredly. Immediately, Kakashi felt her entire body tense. She quickly glanced around them, as if looking for someone.

"What is it?" he asked, looking around as well.

"Someone's been following us," she whispered, hardly moving her lips as she spoke. "I thought I recognized his chakra pattern, but I wasn't sure."

"Wait, you can detect chakra patterns?" Kakashi asked, surprised. "How come you didn't tell me this before?"

"As if I've consistently told you things about me," Nayamae countered, still looking around them. She was leaning heavily against Kakashi. "Wait here," she said, quickly pushing herself off of him and weaving herself into the crowd.

"Hey! You're not well! Nayamae, come back!" Kakashi yelled, straining to see her between the people. "Dammit!" He pushed his way between the villagers, accidentally knocking their items out of their hands, and apologizing hurriedly before moving on to try to find her. He stopped to look above people's heads, searching for at least a glimmer off of her black hair. She was simply gone. "Seriously?" he huffed. "Fucking hell…" He didn't know the extent of her health, but she was obviously dizzy and needed rest. He was surprised she had taken off when she did.

 _She was able to sense someone following us, but who?_ He thought to himself. He decided to find the spot where she had told him to wait, in case she had come back. He waited a few minutes until he finally spotted her moving between the crowds. "Nayamae!" he called, catching up with her before she could fall again. "You can't just run off like that!" he scolded. "Who were you looking for?"

"Not here," she whispered harshly, letting Kakashi put his arms around her to help her the rest of the way to his apartment.

* * *

"Hey! You're not well! Nayamae, come back!" Kakashi's shouts were drowned in the din of the people around her. She couldn't let him see where she was going. She sensed Kabuto was hiding in an alleyway close by. With her head pounding, she quickly ducked into the darkness of the alley, meeting Kabuto behind a large pile of trash. The smell of the garbage made her crinkle her nose in disgust. Kabuto was disguised again, wearing a mask over his face and an odd hat over his eyes. When she caught up to him, she tried not to lean too much against the wall behind her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked between breaths. "You've got some nerve-"

"I'm not here to take you away from this village," he said sharply, cutting her off. "You've obviously gotten them to trust you enough they want you as their spy."

"Then why _are_ you here?" she asked again. "What does Orochimaru want? What more could the bastard still want with me?"

"You know he would rather have you dead right now," Kabuto said seriously. "You may want to take that threat a little more to heart. Especially after the last time. He didn't appreciate you coming at him with a sword."

"I didn't appreciate him beating me and shoving me into a closet," Nayamae growled. "I _also_ didn't appreciate him controlling me like a puppet whenever he wanted."

Kabuto forcefully grabbed her left hand, bringing it closer to the only bit of street light in the dark alley. "Your friend Kakashi Hatake hasn't removed this seal yet? That's surprising. You would think they would want you completely under _their_ control rather than under Orochimaru's."

She tore her hand from his grip. "He's not my friend," she replied defensively.

"Then whatever he is to you, be careful," he warned. "You don't want a repeat with Ryu now do you?"

" _You have no right to speak about him!_ " Nayamae hissed. She could feel her skin growing hot.

Kabuto smirked. "Be careful," he repeated, pointing at her seal. "If you don't want him to find you, I would get that removed as soon as possible." With that, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Nayamae slumped against the wall as her exhaustion settled. Her skin slowly cooled, but her head continued to swim. She barely remembered getting up and finding her way back to Kakashi. She also barely remembered him carrying her up the stairs and into his apartment. He had gently laid her on his bed, covering her with the blankets. It was still too early in the evening for him to sleep, so instead he made soup for them both, ate, then checked on Nayamae. She was still resting. Quietly, he pulled out an extra cushion and comforter for himself and laid it out on the floor beside his bed.

Kakashi was nearly asleep when he finally heard Nayamae moving on the bed above him. He saw her silhouette in the darkness, sitting up against the wall. "Hey," he said softly, sitting up as well. "You alright?" He saw her shake her head. "Hang on a sec," he said, reaching towards the lamp on the nightstand, lighting the room with a soft glow. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, pointing to the empty space beside her. She nodded, moving over to give him more room.

They sat in silence for a long time. Kakashi thought she looked troubled.

"What's going on?" he asked finally. "Who was following us earlier tonight?"

She took a deep breath before turning her head towards him. "It's nobody you would know," she replied.

"Okay then," he said, nodding his head. "Then _why_ were we being followed?"

"He just wanted to warn me." She paused. "I think... Orochimaru knows where I am." She told him the conversation she had with Kabuto, avoiding giving Kakashi his name and what he had said about Ryu.

"We'll take care of that seal right after we talk to the Hokage tomorrow," he assured her. She nodded before tiredly leaning her head against his shoulder. He looked down at her, surprised she was being this comfortable, especially after the heated argument they had earlier in the day. Silence passed between them again.

"Kakashi," Nayamae said quietly, "I'm dying."

"I know," he said softly.

Silence again.

"I'm being reassigned from ANBU to become a teacher," Kakashi said finally. "I'm not sure what that means for you being under my supervision, but we'll discuss that tomorrow." He wasn't sure why now of all times the Hokage had decided to remove him from ANBU. If Nayamae was going to be their ally, she needed someone she could trust. That was the whole point of getting her to become loyal to him, wasn't it? Nayamae adjusted herself beside him, wrapping her arm around his. Again, Kakashi was surprised by her behavior, but said nothing. They sat quietly, listening to the street below calm down as the night continued on.

Eventually, Kakashi realized she had fallen asleep on him. Her arm was still wrapped around his, but he was in no hurry to move. He was comfortable beside her. She was warm and peaceful. She hadn't said anything directly to him, but he wondered if this was how she was beginning to show that she trusted him.

 _You can be loyal to different people in different ways_ _._ How was she going to be loyal to him? Kakashi let his mind ponder this while he slowly drifted off to sleep, leaning his head against Nayamae's.

* * *

Kakashi woke with a start, finding himself still sitting up against the wall. Beside him, Nayamae was curled up against him, still holding onto his arm. He observed her for a few moments, staring at her sleeping face, which was mostly covered by her hair. He gently moved the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She smiled slightly in her sleep, adjusting herself closer to him. "Ryu," she breathed sleepily. Kakashi frowned, surprised to find that he felt disappointed she didn't realize it was him.

He sighed heavily, looking out the window as the sun slowly peeked over the horizon of the village. He was thinking of ways he could get out of Nayamae's grasp without waking her when she suddenly jumped away from him, awake and looking fearful as though he had just tried to attack her.

"Hey, it's alright!" Kakashi said, putting his hands up. "It's just me."

Nayamae tried to relax and slow her breathing down. "Right," she panted. "Just you…" She rain her fingers through her hair. "It's just you," she assured herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked, knowing he was probably going to receive a vague answer.

"I'm fine," she replied, putting her face into her hands.

He slid from the bed, standing beside it. He held his hand out to her. "Come on," he said, "We've got a long day ahead of us." She peek from between her fingers, not reaching for his hand. He sighed, lowering his hand slightly. "I get nightmares too," he admitted softly. He reached out to her again. She eyed his hand, hesitating to take it. "Hey, breakfast isn't going to make itself," he said, trying to joke with her. She hesitated still, but took hold of his hand anyway, letting him lead her out of the bedroom. He sat her down at the low table, going to the kitchen. After a several minutes, he returned with two plates of eggs for the both of him.

"Eat up," he told her. "We have a long discussion with the Hokage today."

She nodded, picking up her utensils to eat. She watched him as he removed his mask to eat. "Why do you wear that mask all the time?" she asked. "It doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose other than hiding your face."

Kakashi paused. "I wear it to cover my scar," he replied shortly, shoving food into his mouth and avoiding her gaze.

She frowned. "That's one excuse, but your village headband does a better job of that. Why not show your face? There's really nothing wrong with it."

He finished chewing before replying sternly. "Please, hurry and eat so we can go talk to the Hokage."

She huffed. "Fine. I guess _I'm_ not allowed to ask questions about _you_ , even though _you've_ asked plenty of questions about _me._ " He kept quiet, though he silently agreed that she was right. He was being unfair and he knew it. However, he was more irritated that he couldn't keep her from wanting to argue with him nearly every time they spoke to each other. It was almost as though she purposely wanted to annoy him.

The rest of the morning passed in equal silence. After eating, they showered, dressed, and got ready separately, giving the other as much space and privacy as possible in Kakashi's small apartment. Finally, they were ready to leave, both walking out into the cool morning air.

Almost immediately, they were greeted by an enthusiastic, "KAKASHI!" They turned to see Guy making his way up to them. Behind him walked another man and a woman. The man had a beard and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. The woman had black hair that touched her shoulders. Her eyes were as red as the lipstick she wore. Both of them were obviously shinobi. "Kakashi! Stop and talk for a moment!"

"We are never going to get to the Hokage…" Kakashi muttered tiredly as they approached. Nayamae stifled a laugh. He shot her a glare.

"It's good to see you back to normal, Nayamae!" Guy said excitedly, giving her a thumbs up. "I was beginning to think you'd stay a fox forever!"

She gave him a nervous laugh. "That's partially inevitable, Guy."

"Kakashi, we haven't seen you in a while," the woman said. "We just wanted to make sure everything was going okay."

"We heard you're becoming a teacher! Quite the lifestyle change from ANBU," the man said, eyeing Nayamae. "Hi, I'm Asuma," he introduced himself, extending his hand to her. "This is Kurenai."

Nayamae nervously took his hand. "I'm Nayamae," she told him.

"It's good to finally meet you," Kurenai told her. "Guy kept telling us Kakashi was keeping some girl at his apartment," she joked.

"Ah…" Nayamae replied uncomfortably.

Kakashi stiffened. "We have an appointment to speak to the Hokage. We have to go," he said quickly, half-pulling Nayamae down the street before the three could say anything else.

"Hey!" she cried, running to keep up with Kakashi's longer strides.

"Sorry," he apologized not feeling a bit sorry. "We really are running late now."

* * *

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi greeted. Nayamae stood beside him.

"Kakashi, Nayamae, good to see you both again." Sarutobi greeted cordially. "Well? Have you decided?" he asked Nayamae.

She nodded. "Yes. I'll work with your village on one condition."

Sarutobi cocked his head. "Oh? What is that?"

She paused. "Kakashi stays with me."

Kakashi looked at her in surprise. He quickly caught the eye of Sarutobi. They were both thinking the same thing: _she was becoming loyal to him._

"Why would you like him to stay with you?" he asked. "He won't be in ANBU much longer, if you didn't know. He'll have different responsibilities. And, I was under the impression yesterday you didn't like him."

"Not especially," she said bluntly. Kakashi frowned. That wasn't what he wanted her to say. "He said he would teach me to read. Kakashi stays with me," she insisted.

"Teach you to read? Hmm… We can arrange that." Sarutobi looked to Kakashi. "Add reading and writing to the list of her training," he said seriously. He turned back to Nayamae. "In the meantime, we'll find a place for you to live and start a training regimen for you. You need to learn how to investigate Orochimaru and Shinjou before you can go after them." She nodded. He smiled at her. "I'm glad you've agreed to work with us. Now, if you would please go with Chiharu, she'll show you where to get started. I must speak to Kakashi in private for a few minutes." The door behind them opened and a blonde haired woman entered, waiting in the doorway.

Nayamae looked to Kakashi, seemingly unsure. He nodded at her and she reluctantly left the room, following Chiharu. He watched her leave, the door closing with a soft click.

Immediately Kakashi turned back to the Hokage. "You seem to be making progress with her," Sarutobi commented.

"It would seem," he replied, thinking of how he liked the way she walked. "I'm not sure how, but she's trusting me more often than not."

"That's good, that's good. Just keep at it and I think she will be a very valuable ally."

"There's one issue though," Kakashi said, crossing his arms. "Orochimaru left a mark on her hand before she turned into a fox. It's possible he may be using it to track her. Someone followed us last night, but she wouldn't tell me who. She could sense their chakra pattern."

"She could sense them? I didn't know she was even capable of sensing chakra patterns." He folded his hands under his chin.

"Neither did I until last night," he replied. "She's convinced Orochimaru knows where she's hiding. I think whoever it was following us last night works for him and threatened her."

"Hmm," Sarutobi hummed, thinking deeply.

"I am going to do what I can to remove the seal from her hand. It needs to be gone as soon as possible."

"I agree. He could be using it to manipulate her in ways we don't know yet," he said seriously. "See that you remove that seal at once. We can't have Orochimaru knowing what we're up to." Kakashi nodded. "Afterwards, keep getting Nayamae to trust you. Do whatever you have to do. You're dismissed."

Kakashi left the Hokage's office after a quick bow. He found Nayamae waiting for him outside, sitting on a bench and eating an apple.

"There you are," Nayamae said impatiently, standing. "I wasn't even sure if you were still here at all."

"Give me your hand," he suddenly ordered, holding out his own. She gave him a quizzical look, but put her hand in his anyway, taking a loud bite out of her apple. The mark was still there, but it was slightly darker than before. Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Come on," he said, keeping hold of her hand and walking forward. "Let's take care of this seal once and for all."

* * *

 **I realize this has been mostly dialogue which can be kinda boring, but the action will pick up soon! There are things to be learned and themes to explore!**

 **Hey.**

 **Thanks for reading. :)**


	13. Past

**It's been a while. Here's a new chapter.**

* * *

"I feel sort of concerned that you have to drag me out into the forest to remove this," Nayamae told Kakashi as he sat her down in a patch of grass.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this one," he said, walking a few feet away from her. "I just want to make sure there's nothing to interfere and if something happens where you go on a killing rampage again, I can stop you here before you hurt anyone else," Kakashi replied, lifting his headband and making symbols with his hands before putting them to the ground. Nayamae felt his chakra circle around her, leaving a soft tingle on her skin.

"That was one time!" she argued. "And Orochimaru had control of me!"

"And Orochimaru was the one who put that seal on you," he countered.

She looked at the circle as he continued his work outside of it. "Why so elaborate this time?" she asked. "You only had to touch me to get rid of the other one."

"I'm also making sure that there isn't anything else we need to worry about," he said. "Now hold still. This will hurt a little."

She shifted a moment before finally settling. Kakashi put his hand to the circle on the ground, the marks glowing a bright blue. The blue glowed intensely, blinding Kakashi for a moment.

He was suddenly standing beside a river. In front of him, a very large man was scrubbing the hair of a young girl in the water. His hair was brown and scraggly, with a long beard to match. His clothes were bloodied with freshly seared wounds. He looked as if he had just fought a battle. Kakashi recognized the man from the last time he had accidentally entered Nayamae's memories. The girl squirmed uncomfortably, telling him he was rubbing too hard. The water around her had turned dark red. Kakashi suddenly noticed she was bathing in her clothes which were soaked in blood. He wondered why she had been covered in blood.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Naya," the man apologized softly, scrubbing her bloodied arm then dipping it into the water to rinse off. "I will make sure this never happens again," he told her determinedly.

"Abba, does this mean we'll have to move again?" she asked, scrubbing her chest with her other arm.

He nodded. "Most likely. We can stay with Shinjou until we find another place."

She crinkled her face. "I don't like her."

"I know you don't, but you like Ryu, don't you?" he asked with a small smile, gently scraping the blood out from beneath her fingernails. She blushed brightly. "It'll be alright. It won't be for very long." She continued to frown.

The vision blurred and a change of scenery. Kakashi watched the younger Nayamae and Abba approach an ancient building. Nayamae was wearing a clean set of clothes and Abba had patched his wounds. The building looked like a dojo, with its high walls, paper lanterns, and beautifully shingled roofs. They entered the front gate going up to the porch. As they approached, they heard shouting from the other side of the sliding paper door.

The door suddenly slid open. A boy scrambled out onto the porch, falling into the dirt in front of the stairs. A woman with long dark hair and a jagged scar running down her face and neck stood seething in the doorway. "Stupid boy," she spat, staring down at him as he sat up to face her. She looked up, suddenly noticing Abba and Nayamae watching the two of them. "Abba," she said, acknowledging him. "What do you want?" she asked bitterly. Nayamae stood closer to Abba, holding onto the edge of his cloak.

"We'll speak in private, Shinjou," he said, eyeing the boy. "Away from the children."

"Is that what you call her?" she asked, pointing to Nayamae who was now hiding herself in his cloak. "She doesn't belong with us!" Shinjou huffed. "Fine. _You're_ allowed inside. I don't like that _fox_ stinking up my house." She looked down at the boy. " _Get up, Ryu!_ You bring shame to yourself!" Immediately Ryu stood and began patting the dirt from his clothes. She turned around and headed inside, not waiting for Abba to follow her. Abba pried Nayamae's fingers from his cloak, telling her to stay outside, and went after her.

Nayamae immediately ran to Ryu, who was wiping fresh blood from his lip. His blue eyes were filled with anger as he watched Abba follow after his mother.

"Are you okay?" she asked him once the door was closed.

"It's nothing," he replied quickly, pushing her hand away.

She frowned. "Come on," she said, pulling on his other hand. "Let's go play."

Kakashi was suddenly watching a much older Nayamae run alone through a very rocky area. He could feel her anxiety and fear radiating through the memory. Somehow, he knew Orochimaru had been keeping her under close watch for the last few months, warning her that she was getting "distracted" from her "true" loyalty. She was running to warn Ryu before something happened to him. She had to warn Ryu that Orochimaru would kill him if they didn't stop seeing each other.

She went past a small pond, going towards the tall rock formation that hid their personal meeting spot. "Ryu!" she called loud enough for him to hear her.

Ryu looked up to the sound of his name and pushed himself off the rock he was leaning against. Nayamae's heart relaxed slightly at the sight of him, his handsome face forming a bright smile. "Naya!" he greeted, hugging her tightly. "I got your message and brought this," he gestured to the sword hanging from his belt. "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding deeply concerned. He held her by her shoulders. "You're shaking."

"Ryu," she started, forcing herself to look away from his blue eyes, "we need to stop seeing each other for a little while. Orochimaru thinks I'm not loyal to him. He doesn't understand how my loyalty works." She held tightly to his arms, finally looking up into his face. " _He's going to kill you if he finds us together again._ "

"Funny, my mother said the same thing about you."

"This isn't a joke, Ryu!"

"I'm not joking! She thinks I'm not serious enough about taking over for her all because I'm, according to her, 'too wrapped up with that fox' to care." He sighed heavily. "I don't want to stop seeing you."

"We have to," Nayamae said forcefully, pushing his hands away. "I'm sorry, Ryu, I really am. It's too dangerous." She felt her eyes burning from holding back her tears.

He pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair. Her arms went around his middle, holding him as tightly as she could. Everything about him was more than familiar to her. His scent, his touch, his strength, she could trace him all by memory. She didn't want to let go.

Suddenly, a horrible sound rang in Nayamae's ears. Ryu had cried out in excruciating pain, releasing his hold on her, grasping at the blade that was now protruding from his chest. She jumped back with a scream in terror. Behind him, Nayamae saw Orochimaru pushing the blade up further under Ryu's ribs. He twisted, then ripped the sword out, leaving Ryu fall with a sickening thud.

Nayamae screamed loudly. "RYU!" She fell to her knees beside him, her hands hopelessly trying to cover his wounds to stop them from bleeding.

"I told you this would happen," Orochimaru said casually, flicking the blood off his blade. "He was distracting you." He patted her shoulder as he began to walk away. "I give you permission to bury him and mourn him for a day, after that, you're loyal to _only_ me."

She had hardly heard what Orochimaru had said as he left her alone with Ryu as he continued to bleed out. Kakashi was about to run after Orochimaru, his own anger burning against him, but Nayamae's cries brought him back to the scene in front of him.

"Ryu, please don't die!" she pleaded desperately, gently turning him onto his back. His blood pooled around him, staining his and Nayamae's clothes. He gurgled as he tried to breathe, the blood flooding and dripping from his mouth. He tried to concentrate on her face, but his eyes wouldn't focus. "You're gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay! Ryu, stay with me!"

Desperately, she looked around. No one seemed to be nearby. She couldn't sense anyone either. "This is all my fault, Ryu, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tears were freely flowing down her face, leaving streaks. He shuddered a final breath as Nayamae sensed his soul leave his body. His eyes had turned to the same color as the greying sky.

"RYU!" she cried. "Somebody!" she yelled to the rock formation around her as she held him to her chest. "SOMEBODY! HELP, PLEASE! RYU!" She rocked him in her arms, but he didn't stir again. "Ryu," she repeated softly. "I'm so sorry." She kissed his forehead, running her fingers through his black hair.

The scene in front of Kakashi blurred and he found himself kneeling in the forest again. He blinked, staring at Nayamae in the middle of the circle he had created. She was sobbing into her hands, wailing horribly as she curled up on the ground. He felt weary from using his sharingan, but got up and knelt down beside her in the circle. He wasn't sure why he was able to get into her memories every time he had removed a seal from her, but he had seen enough. This was exactly why she feared Orochimaru so much. He was absolutely ruthless.

Kakashi picked her up and pulled her into a tight embrace. She didn't seem to mind, or notice, but continued to sob into his chest. It was much later in the day than he thought it was. Judging by the darkening sky above them, he had been removing Orochimaru's seal for hours. They sat in each other's arms for a long time while Nayamae calmed down. Eventually they sat in silence as the night began to surround them.

Kakashi felt himself feeling worse and worse. His vision swirled and he felt sick to his stomach. Nayamae moved to let go of him, looking up at him.

"Hey, Kakashi, are you okay?" he heard her ask, but his eyes drooped heavily. He felt himself falling forwards. When he awoke, Kakashi felt a cool cloth being pressed to his forehead. He opened his one eye to find he was back in his bedroom, suddenly aware his mask wasn't covering his face. Nayamae sat on the edge of his bed, balancing a bowl of water in her lap and gently dabbing the cloth to his forehead. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She didn't seem to care that she had taken his mask off while he was unconscious. He felt almost naked without it.

"You were burning up," she told him softly, noticing he was awake. "Fainted in the middle of the forest."

He watched her for a moment, staring at her hands as she dipped the cloth into the water. She wrung it between her hands, letting the water drip out, and put the cloth back to his face. He was glad to see the mark was now gone from her hand.

He saw his mask sitting on the floor beside the bed and attempted to sit up to retrieve it. His head spun.

"Don't do that!" she scolded, pushing him back down. "You must have used your sharingan too much today. You need rest."

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, settling back. "You said you didn't like me."

"What, is that what you've been thinking about? You think I don't like you enough to leave you out in the middle of the woods with a fever?" she replied sharply, offended. "Besides," she continued, her voice turning soft, "you've seen something most people don't even know about." She stared at the bowl in her lap, avoiding looking Kakashi in the eyes. "And since you've helped me so much, I have to say 'thank you' somehow, don't I?" He stared at her. He felt she was trying to be sincere, but it somehow felt weird hearing her say it.

"Nayamae…" Kakashi started, unsure of what to say next. "What happened after Orochimaru killed Ryu? What did you do?" he asked gently after a long silence had passed between them.

She grimaced at the sound of their names, still avoiding his eye by focusing on the bowl. Kakashi thought she looked very small. "I did what I had to," she replied softly. "I took his body to Shinjou. She of course blamed me for death of her son and used any torture method she could think of to hurt me, but not kill me." She took a deep breath, obviously fighting back more tears. "She held me for a week until I could escape. Orochimaru found me shortly after that and found more ways to experiment on me." Her hands began to shake so she held tighter to the bowl. "With everything I had seen and had done to me, it's a fucking miracle I'm even alive!" She paused. "I didn't even want to _be_ alive without Ryu. It was too much. That's why you found me high that one night. I had been trying to drown it all out for months." She looked down at him. "Now you know why I didn't want to agree to help your Hokage. I can't fight them, Kakashi," she said shaking her head. " _I can't_."

Kakashi was speechless. He wanted to say something comforting to her, but the words never made it past his lips. Her emotions were open and raw. Her pain still fresh as if it had only just happened. He looked her in the eyes, taking in every feeling she had. He wanted to hold her again, to stroke her hair, be close to her, but he stayed put.

He knew how she felt. Rin's and Obito's deaths haunted his own dreams every night. He could imagine the guilt Nayamae likely felt thinking Ryu's death was her fault.

Finally, Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but she had already begun to leave.

"Anyway," she went on, removing the cloth from his forehead and putting it in the bowl, "I'm staying with Kyrie tonight," she said quickly changing the subject. She stood. "I imagine you can take care of yourself no problem. Have a good night, Kakashi." She turned, hurrying to leave the room.

Kakashi propped himself up on his elbows. "Nayamae, wait." She paused in the doorway. "Tomorrow," he said. She creased her eyebrows. "Tomorrow we'll start reading."

Nayamae nodded, trying to hide her sudden excitement. "I'll be here early then," she said, exiting.

* * *

 **Man, this was a tough chapter to write, I'm not gonna lie. I could not get this ending to this one down for nothing. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!**

 **Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**


	14. New Things

Nayamae rubbed her face in frustration. "I wish I already knew all this!" she complained.

"You're not going to learn how to read in only a week, Nayamae," Kakashi told her, calmly.

She rested her chin on the table. "At least tell me I can quit writing lines…? My hand hurts. . ."

He looked at the papers spread out in front of her, covered in her sloppy writing. It was surprisingly almost legible, but she was obviously still learning. "Well, you aren't going to be writing mission reports any time soon."

She groaned, putting her face on the table. "I forgot about those," she mumbled into the tabletop.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "That won't be for a while anyway."

"Good." She sat up, looking at the clock on the wall. "Are we done for today then?" she asked. "I'm meeting with Kurenai soon."

Kakashi was still looking critically over her writing. "Fix that," he said, pointing to a spot on the page. "Why are you meeting with Kurenai?" he asked.

"She's going to teach me chakra control," she replied, slowly and carefully moving her pencil to form the correct words. "She offered so I accepted. She thinks it may help me not get so overwhelmed when I walk in a crowd of people." She handed him the paper again. "How's this?"

He took the paper from her. "Better," he replied. "I didn't realize she would have the time to train you and her other students as well," he commented.

"Hey, don't you have to meet your new students today?" Nayamae asked.

Kakashi glanced up at the clock. "Not for another hour."

"Well, I'm going to go anyway," she said, getting up from the low table. "I should be back tomorrow."

He began to gather up the papers. "See you then."

* * *

Nayamae ran as fast as she could to where Kurenai was to meet her. Kurenai was standing beside a small pond when she greeted her. Orange and white koi fish swam in the water. Kurenai wasted no time to begin her first lesson.

"In order to have good chakra control, you should only mold as much chakra as you need to perform a given ability." Kurenai lectured Nayamae. "If you mold more chakra than necessary, the excess chakra is wasted and you'll tire out faster from its loss. Right now, you seem to have very little to no chakra control. Your ability to sense others runs wild and makes you unable to focus on one individual."

Nayamae shrugged. "I've done that before it's just harder…"

Kurenai put her hands on her hips. "Alright then. Kakashi also told me you've been able to create fire in your hand?" She nodded. "Can you demonstrate?"

She hesitated. "I can, but… it's really an 'emergencies only' ability that I sparingly use..." Nayamae hoped Kurenai wouldn't push her too much to show her. She was afraid of using any of the kitsunebi she had left.

Kurenai nodded. "I see. Well, think of it this way," she suggested, "the same way you focus to create the fire in your hands is a similar process of focusing your chakra to sense others. That's not all you can do with it though," she continued, walking towards the little pond, "you can focus the chakra down to your feet," her foot stepped on the water, but much to Nayamae's surprise, didn't make a splash, "and walk." The koi swam beneath her feet, unbothered by her standing right above them.

"You mean, I could do _that?!_ " Nayamae exclaimed. "If I just focus down at my feet?"

"Essentially, yes," she replied. "You probably won't get it for a little while. It'll take practice. You won't be used to using your chakra in this way, but it'll get easier over time." She walked off the water, towards her and back on dry land. "Try it out."

Nayamae looked down at her feet, unsure of herself, but she took a deep breath, and tried anyway. The rest of the afternoon, she spent with very wet feet, but Kurenai was kind enough to be patient with her. Nayamae was frustrated and tired, but did notice a little bit of progress before Kurenai decided they would try again in a couple of days.

"Go home and rest," she told her. "You've done enough for today. For the next couple of days, try to control yourself from sensing anyone else's chakra. We'll keep going from there." She shook her hand. "Good work today," she said with a smile.

Nayamae walked back to Kyrie's feeling exhausted. As she walked, she noticed quite a few rough looking people skulking in entrances to alleyways and in doorways, smoking a cigarette or two. They all seemed like they were waiting for somebody or for something to happen. She quickened her stride.

At the end of the road, she watched a man walk out of a bar, his arm around a brunette woman's shoulders. His red hair covered part of his face while he leaned in towards the brunette's ear, whispering something to her that made her giggle flirtatiously. Nayamae wasn't sure she recognized the man until he lifted his head up. She knew this man as a drug distributor for Shinjou; his name was Akito. She then noticed the large bag the brunette woman carried at her side. His golden eyes drunkenly scanned the street, seemingly looking at the occupied alleys and doorways.

In quiet shock, Nayamae quickly hurried to hide behind a bedsheet someone had left hanging outside. She didn't think Akito would know her since she had only seen him a few times, but she couldn't take that risk. She watched as the pair stopped by an alleyway, the woman unclasped the bag and reached inside, discretely pulling out a small package. Akito took it from her and passed it to one of the men standing in the alley. The man gave him a small, closed sack. She could faintly hear the sound of coins coming from the sack as they hid it back into the woman's bag. They repeated this process, making their way down the street, only pausing every so often to glance around or to let a shinobi pass by.

Nayamae had seen enough. She had to tell someone about this immediately. She returned to her brisk walk back to Kyrie's, thinking hard about what she had witnessed. She had seen these people exchange money for a small package, but she had no idea if the packages had held drugs or not. In her experience, they looked exactly like what she thought they were: drugs. More specifically a type of opium, but she had no way to confirm unless she had one herself.

The idea of getting her own package of drugs was tempting, but she didn't want to repeat that addiction again. She shook her head. No, she _needed_ to tell somebody about this. Her first thought was to tell Kakashi, but he wasn't in ANBU anymore, so what could he do? She then thought about immediately going and seeing the Hokage directly. He was the one who specifically asked for her help with the drug problem in the first place.

Suddenly, she found herself in front of Kyrie's clinic. With an annoyed sigh, she turned around and began walking towards the Hokage's office. As she walked, ideas bounced around in her head on how to get information from Akito. She figured she could use him to get an idea on Shinjou's current whereabouts.

"Hey! Nayamae!" The sound of her name brought her out of her thoughts. "What are you doing? I thought you were with Kurenai still?" Kakashi stared at her, waiting for a response. He moved the large envelope in his hand to under his arm.

Nayamae blinked. "Oh. I finished with her not too long ago," she said dismissively, moving past him.

He followed beside her. "Well, how did it go?" he asked curiously.

"Fine," she replied, starting to get annoyed. She didn't feel like talking to him. Her mind was still focused on talking to the Hokage about Akito.

"Okay then," he said with a sigh. "Where are you going? I figured you would head over to Kyrie's right after."

"I was," she said shortly. "Something came up and I need to speak to your Hokage."

"I'm heading there as well. What are you needing to talk to him about?"

She shot him a glare. "None of your business."

He put his hands up. "Alright, alright. I'll stop asking questions."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they finally got to the Hokage's office, Nayamae put herself ahead of Kakashi. "It's really important I speak to him immediately," she said quickly, as she was allowed into the Hokage's office, the door shutting behind her.

Kakashi held up the envelope he was carrying, "But I just needed to give him this…" he said tiredly. With a heavy sigh, Kakashi sat down on a bench in the hallway. He couldn't make out what Nayamae was talking to Hiruzen about, but by their tones he assumed it was as important as she said.

"Hey, Kakashi! Long time, no see!"

Kakashi looked up from his seat. "Oh, Iruka, how are you?"

"I'm doing well!" Iruka said, taking a seat beside him. "I was just about to head home when I saw you sitting here. What are you doing?"

"I'm turning in my last mission report for ANBU," he replied, showing him the envelope.

"Ah, I see." He suddenly seemed excited by something. "Hey, I heard you started with your new students today! How'd that go?"

"I failed them," he replied bluntly.

Iruka blinked. "You failed them...?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. Sent them back to the academy." Iruka stared at him in silent shock. "They weren't working as a team," Kakashi explained simply. "There's no room for those who think they can do everything by themselves."

Iruka leaned back against the wall. "Well, I guess that's something we'll have to emphasize more in training…"

Suddenly, the Hokage's office door opened and Nayamae walked out. Kakashi and Iruka stood simultaneously.

Nayamae quickly glanced at Kakashi, meeting his eye. "I'll see you later, Kakashi," she told him, hurriedly walking past the two of them.

"Whoa," Iruka said, his mouth gaped open, as they watched her leave. "Where did you meet her?" he asked, turning back to Kakashi.

"ANBU," he replied slowly, still looking in the direction she had left. He wondered why she was leaving in such a hurry. He shook his head. "Anyway, I need to give this to the Hokage. Have a good night, Iruka."

"What, you're not going to tell me anything else about her?" he replied, teasingly. "She didn't even notice I was here! You had eyes on each other the whole time! I've never seen you that interested in a woman before."

Kakashi looked at him. "She can be a handful. Maybe I'll introduce you another time, but it's really not like that between us," he explained. "I just teach her to read now."

Iruka nodded, smiling, obviously not believing him.

Nearly a month had passed, but Kakashi didn't see Nayamae at all. She didn't show up for their normal morning reading lesson. Nor did he find her training with Kurenai. Apparently Nayamae told Kurenai she was taking a short break and she would come back after a while. He decided to go to Kyrie's to see if she knew Nayamae's whereabouts, but she was evasive.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Kakashi," Kyrie assured him, setting a cup of tea on the table front of him in her kitchen. "She's a grown woman who can take care of herself."

Kakashi frowned. "I have my doubts about that."

Kyrie sat across from him, taking her own tea cup into both of her hands. "If she was able to survive as long as she has with all the things she's been through, I'm sure she's okay now." The expression on her face didn't convince him whatsoever.

"Kyrie, what's going on with her? I haven't seen her in practically a month and Kurenai said she's supposedly 'taking a break'? I haven't seen her since she was talking to Hiruzen. Tell me what you know," he gently pressured her. Kyrie loudly sipped her tea and avoided eye contact with him. "Kyrie," he pushed harder, "what aren't you telling me?"

She set her tea down. "I promised not to tell!" she said, frustrated, her voice rising slightly. "It's hard enough that you've been asking me about her for the last three weeks! I can only tell you what I've told you already. The Hokage has her working on an extremely secret mission. Surely, you of all people would understand that?"

He sighed heavily. He did understand. "But have you seen her at least?"

Kyrie frowned, leaning back in her chair. "Yes," she said decidedly. "I have seen her. She's doing just fine," she said before he could ask. She paused. "Kakashi-san, you don't need to worry about her. Naya is safe." She reassuringly put her hand over his. "I'll let you know if I think she's in trouble and could use your help."

He didn't like the sound of that. "She doesn't have somebody with her?" he asked, surprised. "She's by herself?"

She shrugged. "I'm only telling you what I've been allowed to, Kakashi," she said tiredly.

"How do you know all this anyway?" He asked, finally taking a sip of his now cold tea.

"Kakashi, I have patients to attend to," Kyrie said impatiently, standing quickly. She picked up her empty tea cup. "If you want to know anything, I suggest you find her yourself and ask her directly." She went to put her cup in the sink.

Kakashi stood as well, downing the rest of his drink. "Thank you for the tea," he said as he left her apartment without another word.

* * *

 **Well, well! What could Nayamae be up to? Tell me what you think!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	15. Secrets

It was only a few days after his visit with Kyrie that she came to him, running up to him in the village square. "Come with me," she ordered urgently, pulling him by his arm away from people.

"Kyrie, what's going on?" he asked concernedly, once they could talk in private.

She adjusted her glasses. "It's Naya," she started in a hushed voice. "She's getting confirmation on Shinjou's location."

Kakashi blinked. "What? How? From whom?"

Kyrie glanced around before speaking again. "I told you I would let you know when I thought she was in danger. I think by getting this information from her current source may result badly."

"You think she's going to go after Shinjou alone?" he asked. "She's terrified of her!"

Kyrie nodded. "I was surprised too. She asked for my help and to not tell you anything. She didn't want to concern you."

"Well, she has," Kakashi said irritably.

Kyrie continued. "Naya's been meeting with a man named Akito. He frequents a bar just a few blocks from my clinic. He's one of Shinjou's main drug distributors. For the last month or so, she's been working on getting close to him to extract information from him. So far, it's been successful."

"So far?"

Kyrie nodded again. "She's been extracting a lot of information from him. As long as she keeps him drunk and happy, she can get him to tell her anything." She looked at Kakashi seriously. "I want you to be there to protect her. I'm afraid something is going to go wrong tonight."

"Why me?" he asked. "She would recognize my chakra before I even entered the bar."

"Maybe so," Kyrie said thoughtfully, putting her hand under her chin, "but she's been training to control it, right? Regardless, I want you to be there." She put her hands on her hips, staring intensely at him.

He crossed his arms. "It doesn't seem like you're giving me much of a choice."

"I'm not," Kyrie replied, moving past him. "Come on. Let's get you a good disguise so nobody recognizes you in the bar."

When they arrived at Kyrie's apartment, she rushed him upstairs to a spare bedroom. "Sayo's gone for the weekend so I don't suppose she would mind if we borrowed some of her makeup." She turned around to face him, holding a small pile cosmetics in her hands. "Sit there," she ordered, nodding towards a chair in front of a table and mirror. Kakashi sat while Kyrie placed the bottles and brushes on the table. "Well, take off your mask, silly!" she said. "Can't exactly give you a good disguise if people can't see your face. They'd know who you are in an instant."

"But my eye-" Kakashi started as he pulled his mask down from his face.

"Simple fix," she said waving her hand. He frowned, but let Kyrie apply different creams to his face. She especially worked to cover the scar on his eye, carefully blending in the colors to make it look natural. She handed him a small container. "Put these on your eyes. They may be a little uncomfortable at first, but these eye drops help."

After several agonizing attempts to put the colored contacts in his eyes, he was finally able to blink them into place. Kyrie helped him put on a brown wig, making sure all of his silver hair was hidden beneath it. Once she found an outfit for him, Kakashi changed into it. When he finished, he let Kyrie back into the room.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, admiring the costume. "I really have outdone myself this time! Though, your disguise was definitely much harder to put together than Naya's. She knows how to put on her own makeup."

Kakashi looked at himself in the mirror. He was first impressed with how Kyrie had managed to cover his scar and his sharingan eye. His eyes were now green and his hair was brown and curly. He wore a dusty colored poncho that was much too large for him with a matching baggy brown shirt and pants. He had left his gloves and sandals on. "Nayamae has a disguise too?"

"Yes, but hers is much simpler. You'll find Naya in no time, I assure you."

"Alright then, since I know how to spot Nayamae, then how do I know I've spotted Akito?" Kakashi asked, adjusting the poncho.

"From what she's told me," Kyrie said, putting away the makeup into a bag, "Akito has dark red hair and golden eyes. Sometimes wears glasses I think." She paused to push her own glasses up her nose. "That's all she told me. I would assume he'll just look like a shady character altogether," she surmised with a shrug.

"Thank you, Kyrie. You've been a great help," he said, giving her a small peck on the cheek.

Kyrie playfully punched his arm. "Go away! You got work to do!" She laughed.

* * *

Kakashi entered the bar, glancing around at all the people. His disguise gave him little comfort, even though Kyrie insisted he looked unrecognizable. At the bar, he spotted a man with red hair and golden eyes who was staring into his drink. Akito. Kakashi ordered a drink and went to sit down at a nearby table.

A woman with long, silky black hair made her way up to Akito. Her cherry red kimono was purposely slit up her legs, exposing her pale skin. She had adorned gold jewels in her hair and around her neck and on her ears. Her face was covered in heavy makeup, but she still looked very beautiful. Kakashi almost didn't realize it was Nayamae.

He took a long gulp from his drink, the alcohol burning his throat, as he watched Nayamae put her arms around Akito's shoulders. She whispered something into his ear, playfully teasing him and making him smile. Kakashi didn't like the way he was looking at her. Irritated, he took another gulp of his drink.

"Come on!" he heard her say as she grabbed his hand. "Let's go upstairs," she said enticingly. Kakashi knew it was an act on her part, but he felt increasingly uncomfortable and angry. He watched her lead him to the stairs on the far side of the bar as someone else sat beside him at his table.

A blonde woman, who was dressed similar to Nayamae, but wore a revealing pink kimono was staring at him. "I saw you starin' at her. No use tryin' to get with that woman!" she told him. "She refuses to get with anybody else but him. No mattah how much money she's offered!" She shrugged. "But," she said, leaning closer to Kakashi, "if you're lookin' for a good time, I can show you a night you won't fahget!" She batted her eyes at him, pressing herself against him.

Kakashi moved away from the blonde woman. "No, thanks, really," he said, standing from the table. If he wasn't uncomfortable before, he certainly was now. "No thanks," he repeated, quickly dashing across the bar floor towards the stairs.

Once upstairs, he found a long hallway with closed sliding doors on either side. His heart pounded loudly in his chest. He wasn't sure what he was going to do once he found Nayamae, but he had to decide quickly. One of the sliding doors was cracked open. Through the crack he could see Nayamae straddling Akito's lap. They were at a standstill, each with a kunai in hand. Nayamae held hers tightly against Akito's ribs, while he had one at her throat. Their eyes were intensely glaring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"I should have known you were only getting close to me to get information. Did the Hokage send you?" Akito asked her. "Deciding to be the Leaf Village's lap dog, ha! That's very low for a fox like you, Naya. Surely, Abba taught you better!"

"I actually sent myself," she replied shortly, tightening the kunai against his ribs and drawing a bit of blood. Her voice was cold. "Where is Shinjou?"

Akito hitched his breath in pain then laughed. "You mean you don't remember where she is? It hasn't changed since you got Ryu killed!"

Nayamae pressed the kunai into his ribs, drawing more blood. "Then why should I waste any more of my time questioning you?" she hissed as he pressed his kunai harder to her throat in response.

Before he could stop himself, Kakashi had opened the door and entered the room. Nayamae and Akito immediately turned towards the intruder.

"Who the hell-?!" Akito started, but was quickly silenced by a kick to the face, knocking him out cold.

Nayamae was now standing, having jumped from his lap, she looked down at Akito, then at the intruder. Her kunai still in hand, she went to attack Kakashi, but he took hold of her wrists before she could do anything.

"Hey! Hey!" Kakashi said, disarming her and letting the kunai fall to the floor. He had accidentally pushed her against the wall with a loud thud. "It's me!" She continued to struggle against him so he held her wrists above her head. He tore the brown wig from his head, revealing his silver hair. "It's me! Kakashi!"

Nayamae paused, staring at him. "Kakashi… _what the FUCK are you doing here?"_ she spat angrily.

"He was going to kill you!" he argued. "Kyrie told me what you've been up to. She said she didn't feel good about tonight and I think she was right."

"Akito caught on to me a while ago," Nayamae told him simply. "I was waiting for him to make a move. And are you wearing makeup?" she asked, noticing the makeup he was wearing that disguised his face.

"And you were just going to let him hurt you? You don't think that's a problem?" Kakashi countered, ignoring her question. "Why the hell would you let him do that? And on another note, why the _hell_ did you not tell me you were doing this? You shouldn't have done this alone! You aren't trained enough!"

"You're Hokage approved it, so I don't see an issue." Nayamae glared at him.

"That's besides the point!" Kakashi said exasperated.

"Oh? Then what is it? What is the point, Kakashi?" She tried to move her hands out from beneath his grip. "Let me go."

Reluctantly, Kakashi let her go. He glanced down at Akito, who was still very much unconscious. "What do we do with him?" he asked.

"Leave him here," Nayamae said, stepping over him to head towards the door. "ANBU will be by soon to take him into custody." She looked back to Kakashi. "Your disguise is ridiculous," she told him bluntly.

"Tell that to Kyrie," he said, picking up the brown wig from the floor. "We should probably get going. Does ANBU know where to get Akito?"

"I'll let them know," Nayamae told him, picking up the kunai.

"I'll come with you," he said putting back on the wig.

"I can do it myself," she argued, straightening up.

"I'm not letting you do this alone anymore," Kakashi replied firmly, adjusting his wig into place. "You haven't been trained nearly enough. You shouldn't have been doing it on your own in the first place."

"Why are you so concerned about me?" Nayamae questioned, annoyed. "I was doing fine by myself!"

"Like hell you were! I'm only concerned because you don't seem to care about your own life, so I'm going to do it for you!" Kakashi yelled, exasperated. Nayamae stared silently at him, her hands falling slowly to her sides. "You keep thinking you have to do these things to prove yourself, but you don't. Not to me," he added softly. He stepped towards her. "Let me help you capture Shinjou. You don't have to do it alone. You _can_ trust me on this."

She continued to stare at him, seemingly unsure about his offer. "But don't you have students now?"

"I failed them for the exact reason you're being difficult right now," he answered quickly. "If you're going to help Konoha, you have to abide by our rules. _Teamwork_ is one of them."

Nayamae was quiet. "We should go," she muttered.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, following her downstairs and out of the bar. He waited for her as she contacted ANBU to inform them where Akito was before she meeting him further down the road.

"Come on," he said when she approached, "let's go get cleaned up."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review!**


	16. Reveals

**I've had _a lot_ going on here lately, but somehow I still manage to find time to update this story. I really hope you're enjoying it so far! It's been fun for me exploring these characters. Enjoy this next chapter as the action picks up soon!**

* * *

Neither of them spoke a word until they got to Kakashi's apartment.

"Here," Kakashi said, handing Nayamae a towel, "to wipe the makeup off your face." He didn't dislike the makeup on her, but it definitely made her look much different.

"Thank you," she replied softly, taking the towel from him. "You should take yours off too."

"Right."

He sat on the edge of the bathtub and watched as she took off the gold jewelry she had in her hair and on her neck and ears, setting them carefully on the counter by the bathroom sink. He had removed most of his disguise already, leaving his pants and shirt. He had gone back to his normal eye color, his left eye closed to hide the sharingan, his face hidden by a mask.

"You said that the Hokage approved of you doing this on your own," Kakashi started, "but did he approve the part of the plan to dress like a prostitute?"

She turned around to face him, wiping her face with the towel. "I suggested it," she admitted. "Thought it would be easier to get Akito to open up to me."

"And did it work?"

"Does it bother you if it did? I know where Shinjou is. And I know much more than that." She turned back to the mirror, wiping at some particularly stubborn eyeliner. "I know how she's planning to keep growing her business. If we stop her, the whole organization falls apart."

"And you think you know how to stop her?" Kakashi questioned.

She turned to face him again. "If we can kill her, it'll be over."

He looked at her in her eyes. Their sharp brown color was full of a fighting spirit. He couldn't help but feel that her eagerness to carry out this plan had something to do with revenge, but he wasn't able to entertain the thought long.

"Besides, your Hokage wanted me to help solve the drug problem in the village, so any plan I came up with he was game," Nayamae added.

"Sure, but the least you could have done was told me about it," he countered.

She shrugged. "I didn't think you would have approved."

"And you're right. Like I said earlier, you aren't trained enough." She rolled her eyes, but knew he was right. "How did you even find out about Akito?" he asked. "Did you work with him before?"

She shrugged. "In a way, I guess," she replied, putting the towel on the counter. She was quiet as she thought. "Abba was usually the one to do all the talking. He had to fight Shinjou for me to even be in the same room as the rest of them while they discussed their distribution plans. He wanted me to learn the trade." She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter behind her. "I was allowed to sit beside Abba as long as I was quiet."

"Yes, but how did you find out he frequents that bar you were at?" Kakashi made a mental note to ask about Abba, suddenly realizing he didn't know much about the man she considered to be a father. "When you went to go speak to the Hokage that night, you were in a huge hurry. What happened?"

She stared at him, trying to decide what she should tell him. Finally, she decided to tell him everything. She told him about seeing Akito leave the bar with a woman and distribute drugs to the people waiting in the darkened alleys. She told him about the conversation she had with the Hokage on how to gain Akito's trust. With Kyrie's help, she was able to get a good disguise and to infiltrate herself among the other prostitutes to get close to Akito. Akito was intrigued by her almost instantly. She had managed to keep him interested in her enough to give her information without sacrificing too much of her dignity. When she had asked him too many questions, he had begun to be suspicious of her. It was just before Kakashi had intruded on them that Akito had admitted to her that he knew who she was and what she was up to.

"I don't know if he had figured out who I was soon enough to inform Shinjou, so as far as I know, she's unaware I'm working with the Leaf against her," Nayamae finally finished. "I'm sorry for not telling you, but I honestly didn't want you to know."

"Well, you had Kyrie concerned for sure, and she knew what you were doing." Kakashi rubbed his chin, thinking. "Now that you know where Shinjou is, when did you plan on going after her?"

"As soon as possible," she replied. "Can't have her running the slums of this village anymore, can we?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I guess we can't." He stood up and stretched, glancing at the clock. It was close to 1 in the morning. "I suppose we'll have to start tomorrow then. We'll talk to the Hokage first thing in the morning."

"Right. Oh, hang on," she said, stopping him before he could leave the bathroom. "You still have a bit of makeup on you," she told him, gently pulling his mask down and holding the towel to his face. "Hold still." He obeyed. Carefully, she held his face while she carefully wiped around his eye, slowly revealing his scar again.

When she finished, they continued to stare at each other, almost unsure of whether to look away. They moved closer to each other. Gently, their lips touched. Kakashi liked this particular kiss much better than the last one she had given him many months ago. It had been forceful and almost painful, but this was different. He held her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. Nayamae couldn't remember the last time someone had kissed her this well, or this intimately. Something told her they should stop, but they kept going, getting closer to each other. Kakashi had pressed her against the counter behind her. Suddenly, she was putting her hands beneath his shirt, feeling the muscles over his stomach and his back. With one hand, he explored the exposed part of her leg, not realizing he was lifting her towards him. His other hand was placed on her back. A small voice told him to stop, that he was manipulating her and using her loyalty against her, but he ignored it. His brain was going a million miles an hour, not totally in control of what his body was doing.

"Kakashi," Nayamae breathed out when she realized she was sitting on the counter with her legs around his middle. "Kakashi," she repeated, "maybe we shouldn't do this where we could accidentally break your sink?"

He stared at her, processing what she said as they caught their breath. "Oh, right!" He let her stand first then swiftly followed her out of the bathroom and to his bedroom.

Nayamae pulled him along as she fell backwards onto his bed. Almost immediately they continued where they left off in the bathroom, only this time more intensely. At some point, his shirt ended up on the floor. He had somehow managed to undo part of her kimono, but left the rest to her. She sat up to remove the rest of it, then settled herself beneath him in her underwear. Kakashi felt he couldn't keep his hands off of her, he wanted more of her, but something else nagged at him now. How far had she gone with Akito? He mentally shook his head, thinking it was stupid to be jealous when he didn't know anything. He also couldn't help but realize what he was doing was complete fraternization. She wasn't part of his village, but she wasn't an enemy. Yet, there was something weird about her that he couldn't quite place.

He tried to concentrate on how she was feeling, but couldn't shake his thoughts, pulling himself away from her in frustration. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up on her elbows. "Why'd you stop?"

"I… I have to ask you something," he said, unsure of how to explain himself. He sat on the edge of the bed.

Nayamae sat up beside him. "What is it? Are you nervous?" She sounded almost amused.

"It's not that," he replied, though that was a lie. He had no idea what he was doing and was hoping she wouldn't notice, though she probably already had and was kind enough not to say anything. He had a vague idea on what he was doing from some books he read, but wasn't sure how accurate they were. He also wasn't sure how to explain what he was thinking. He felt like she was manipulating _him._ He didn't like that at all. "We have to stop. We can't keep going with this."

"Why? What do you mean?" she asked, looking confused and almost hurt.

Kakashi suddenly felt horrible, but continued to speak. "We can't do this. It's not… It's not right." He had never told her about the deal he had made with Hiruzen to get her loyalty to him. This wasn't what he had thought was going to happen.

"Naya, we can't go any further," he added softly. "It shouldn't have even gotten this far. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, looking away from him. "No, you're right," she said bluntly, getting up from the bed and dressing quickly. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come home with you." Hurriedly, she ran out of the room.

"Naya, wait!" Kakashi called after her. "Nayamae!" He caught her by the arm before she could leave his apartment.

"Don't touch me, Kakashi!" Nayamae shouted. He instantly let her go. She stared at him icily. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said tensely, before swiftly turning around and leaving his apartment. Kakashi stood at his door, staring after her as she walked away into the night.

* * *

Kakashi awoke the next morning, feeling like he hadn't slept at all. Despite his sour mood, the sun shone brightly through the crack in his curtains, illuminating the room. A soft breeze blew gently into the room from the open window. His clothes were still strewn across the floor from the night before. He turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened the night before.

Frustrated, he sat up, putting his feet on the floor. He wasn't sure what to think about Nayamae. He couldn't tell what she actually thought of him or was just using him for something. A sudden creak coming from his open window pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned towards the noise only to find Guy sitting in the window frame. Kakashi jumped back with a yelp, quickly covering himself with the blanket.

"There you are!" Guy exclaimed. "We've been looking for you all morning!" he said as if that explained why he was crouching in Kakashi's bedroom window.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, annoyed at the sudden intrusion. He leaned down to grab a mask from the floor, quickly covering his face.

Guy jumped into the room, straightening up. "You've got some doctor in a panic," he told him. "Kyrie, I believe her name is."

Kakashi grabbed for a pair of pants, trying to cover himself the best he could as he dressed. "Kyrie? Why? Is something wrong?"

Guy shrugged. "Said you didn't check in with her last night? Neither you or Nayamae." He watched Kakashi for a moment as he put on a shirt. "Since when do you sleep naked…?" he asked uncomfortably.

"I don't," he replied shortly. "I must have gotten hot last night."

Guy shook his head. "Okay, well, you better get to Kyrie soon. She's really worried about the both of you." He turned towards the window, but suddenly stopped. "I should use your door, shouldn't I?"

Kakashi nodded. "Please," he insisted, leading Guy out of his apartment.

"I'll see you later, Kakashi!" Guy said. "When you find the time, we must fight! After all, you are my rival!"

Kakashi nodded unenthusiastically. "Yeah, we'll have to do that soon. Bye." He shut the door.

Kakashi went back to his bedroom and shut the window. His bed was a mess of sheets and pillows. He grabbed the edge of the blankets, pulling them taut to get rid of any wrinkles. Faintly, he could smell Nayamae's sweet perfume wafting from the fabric. With a heavy sigh, he decided he probably shouldn't leave Kyrie waiting too much longer.

* * *

"No note?! No quick, 'Hey, we're fine! Everything turned out okay!'?!" Kyrie paced back and forth in her tiny kitchen while Kakashi sat at the table, looking sheepish. "I told you I had a bad feeling about last night! And when you didn't come back I was worried sick!"

"Kyrie, _it's okay,_ " he tried to assure her. "Nayamae was fine. We took care of Akito. He's in ANBU custody now."

"Well that's just _great_ to hear!" Kyrie said, pausing to put her hands on her hips. "And neither of you thought it would have been a good idea to let me know that?!"

"We went back to my apartment," Kakashi replied. He paused, unsure of what to say next. He last saw her storming away from his apartment. She never said where she was going from there.

Kyrie crossed her arms with a huff. "Alright, then where is she? Where's Naya now?"

He hesitated. "I… I don't know," he admitted. "She left after she told me what she has been doing for the last month."

"Hm. Just as I thought," she muttered, taking off her glasses and cleaning them on the edge of her shirt. Her eyebrows were raised at him in concern. "You've read up on kitsunes," she stated obviously, changing the subject. "You know about them, but now you know one on a more personal level." She held up a finger. "Kitsunes are loyal to one person." She pointed directly at him. "If she's picked you, try to make sure you don't betray whatever trust she puts on you." She put her glasses back on her face.

Kakashi looked down at the table, thinking about what Kyrie said. "I think it might be a little late for that," he muttered. Without getting into too much detail, he told her what happened the night before. Kyrie listened intently. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Well, when you find her, I suggest talking to her about whatever it is that's going on between the two of you," Kyrie replied, sitting up a little straighter in her chair. "Figure out what that is and go from there."

* * *

Kyrie had told Kakashi he needed to find Nayamae before the day was over or she would string him up by the village gate. He wasn't quite sure where he was suppose to start looking for her, but he needed to go talk to the Hokage first to inform him on what happened with Akito before going out to look for her.

When he arrived to Hiruzen's office, he heard Nayamae's voice through the door. He took a deep breath before knocking. Her voice stopped.

"Who is it?" Hiruzen called out.

"It's me, Kakashi," he answered.

"Enter."

He opened the door, seeing Nayamae standing beside Hiruzen's desk. She wouldn't look at him. "I'm sorry," he apologized, looking from her to the Hokage. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Nonsense," Hiruzen said, waving his hand. "Nayamae was telling me about what happened last night with Akito. I trust you know about that now?"

"I told him everything from the beginning," Nayamae answered before Kakashi could. She stole a glance towards him. "Thought he should know."

"Very well then," Hiruzen said, folding his hands in front of him. "Now that we have Akito in custody, we can gain more information from him to properly plan an attack against Shinjou."

"We have enough information," Nayamae interjected. "That's what I was _doing_ for the past month! I may not have the same training your shinobi do, but I still got plenty of information from him!"

"I'm not denying what you did was useful," Hiruzen replied calmly. "There is likely more than he ever told you."

She huffed.

"Maybe we can still formulate a plan with what we have," Kakashi suggested. "If there's anything questionable we'll find out the truth."

"We'd be wasting our time," she replied, crossing her arms. "By the time we fact check everything, Shinjou would have moved on. I say we need to start as soon as possible before it's too late for us to even try. We need to start _now_."

"Who do you suggest would be able to take down Shinjou with the information we have?" Hiruzen asked.

"Me," Nayamae said without hesitation. "I know more about her and everything she does better than anybody here. Let me do it."

Hiruzen looked to Kakashi. "What do you think, Hatake?"

"I'll go with her," he replied. She turned to him. "If there's going to be anybody to go with her, it needs to be me."

"Just a two man team?"

"It would have to be. Scope the place out first and then send in a larger group to take her down," Kakashi suggested.

"I can take her down," Nayamae insisted.

"I know you can," Hiruzen replied patiently, "but you mustn't let your emotions get ahead of logical order." He looked between the two of them. "I'll send you out as a two man team to get a few days head start. I'll send a group to go after you. Be sure to stay in contact as much as possible."

"We'll head out as soon as we're ready," Kakashi said, turning to her. "We'll get supplies and be on our way."

Hiruzen nodded. "Be aware," he warned. "Shinjou will have many spies in the area that will alert her of your presence. Stay sharp. This is a dangerous mission."

"We'll be vigilant," Nayamae assured him.

Kakashi and Nayamae left the Hokage's office together. They were silent until the door was shut behind them.

"Kyrie was worried about you," Kakashi started. "Where did you go last night?"

"None of your business," Nayamae said shortly, walking quickly towards the exit. He followed close beside her. "And if she's worried that much, I'll see her before we leave."

"Fine. And you _aren't_ going off by yourself this time. This isn't like with Orochimaru and getting your kitsunebi back. Shinjou _wants_ you dead," Kakashi replied.

"No more than Orochimaru does," she said curtly. "She just has better protection." He grabbed her hand, stopping her quick strides. "What?!" she growled, but she didn't remove her hand from his.

"Remember when you helped us find those children? I had told you _no games_. Same rules apply here." She was glaring at him, but he continued. "We track down where Shinjou is hiding, we observe her while we wait for the rest of the team to show up, then, and _only_ then, will we take her down for good. _No games._ "

"What makes you think I'm playing you?" Nayamae asked.

"You're after revenge. Probably even more so than you were with Orochimaru. He's a lost cause, but you can still get even with Shinjou. Am I right?" He looked down at her. She didn't reply, still glaring at him. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours," he continued, "but I need a partner I can trust on this mission. Don't leave me behind."

She paused, her mood suddenly changing. "After last night, I think I'll have to trust you. You're only the second man to see me nearly naked," she said playfully, removing her hand from his to continue walking. Kakashi was glad his mask could hide his reddening face.

* * *

 **I think Naya likes teasing him just as much as she likes to purposely get on his nerves, but also she doesn't exactly like him? Or does she? It's complicated.**

 **How do you think going after Shinjou is going to turn out? Let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	17. Travelling

"All I ask is that you be _extremely_ careful," Kyrie urged Nayamae, uncrossing her arms as her eyes turned from white to their normal yellow. "I can tell a difference in your kitsunebi over the last several months. It's subtle, but it _is_ getting fainter." She returned her glasses to her face. "What you're about to do is dangerous, but if you must use your kitsunebi, use it only in an emergency and use it sparingly."

Kyrie's warning echoed over and over in Nayamae's head. It made her anxious to use her kitsunebi at all, even if she was in real danger. Any confidence she may of had before leaving to go after Shinjou was fading fast.

She and Kakashi had been travelling for barely four hours. Kakashi felt like they hadn't made much progress anywhere. They had hardly spoken a word to each other since they left the Leaf Village. He walked behind her, following where she was leading, but she was completely lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey, Nayamae, you do know where you're going, right?" Kakashi eventually asked, breaking the silence between them. "Nayamae?" He caught up beside her. "Hey, Nayamae!"

She looked up at him, seeming surprised that he was next to her now. "Huh?"

"Where are we going?" he asked. "You do know where you're heading, right?"

"Of course I do," she replied incredulously.

"Do you?" he asked. "We've passed the same rock formation a good four times within the last hour." He pointed to a set of rocks several yards away. "What's the deal?"

"Sorry," she apologized half-heartedly.

"Come on," he said, "let's take a break and eat something."

They went and sat on the nearby rocks, each pulling out a lunch of rice balls and dried berries. They ate in silence.

Kakashi couldn't take the quiet much longer. "Nayamae, about last night-"

"We don't have to talk about it, Kakashi," she said shortly, taking a large bite out of a rice ball.

"I think we should," he insisted. He felt so awkward and uncomfortable, but felt like they needed to clear the air between them.

She swallowed the bite of rice with a bit of difficulty. "We had a spontaneous, intense make-out, Kakashi, what more is there to talk about? It happened, now just forget about it. It didn't mean anything."

He creased his eyebrows. "Didn't mean anything?" he repeated.

"We both were drinking last night so something foolish was bound to happen," she continued without looking at him.

"I had _one_ drink last night and that certainly wasn't enough to get me even tipsy. I don't know how many drinks _you_ had, but you didn't act like you weren't sober," he argued.

"What do you want from me, Kakashi?" she demanded suddenly. "Do you want me to 'confess my undying love' for you or something?!"

"I only want a straight answer," he replied, calmer than he actually felt. "Whatever happened between us last night has an explanation. You used me to try to make yourself feel better and got angry with me when I stopped it. Whatever the reason behind it, you don't have to tell me now, but just try _talking_ to me next time _before_ it gets physical."

Nayamae was still, staring at him. She wanted to continue arguing with him, but realized it wasn't worth the trouble. "Fine," she muttered, turning back to her riceball. She was more annoyed than anything of his ability to read her like a book. "Was that all you wanted to talk about?" she asked, taking a much smaller bite this time.

He shook his head before tossing a couple of berries into his mouth. "You're worried about your kitsunebi, aren't you?" he asked between chewing. She nodded. "Rightfully so, I think."

"I'm afraid to even use it," she whispered. "It's the only thing that's keeping me alive."

"I wouldn't worry about it now. If we get into a tight spot, I'll do my best to keep you from having to use it at all," he assured her.

"Thanks," she replied, giving him a small smile.

They finished their lunch and started their journey again. When they stopped for the night, Nayamae told Kakashi they had made good progress.

"We should be in Shinjou's territory by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest," she said, sitting on an overturned log. "From there we can stake out and watch for her while we wait for the others."

Kakashi nodded, pulling out a small tackle box he kept in his pack. "I'm going to see if there's any fish in that river," he said, breaking off a long branch from a nearby tree. He took a kunai knife and cut off the extra sticks, giving them to Nayamae to use to start a campfire. From his tackle box, he took out a small spool of clear fishing line, cut off a long piece, and wrapped it tightly on one end of the stick. On the other end of the line, he tied a small metal hook with a small weight attached above it. He stood at the edge of the water and cast the line upstream.

After nearly an hour, Kakashi managed to catch two good-sized fish for them to eat. He brought them over where Nayamae was sitting in front of the fire she had built. She had a small book open on her lap. Her face was skewed in intense concentration as she focused on trying to understand what she was reading.

"Dinner," Kakashi announced, holding up the fish he caught.

She looked up from the book. "Great! I'm starving!"

"What are you reading?" he asked, putting the fish on sticks to cook by the fire.

"Well," she huffed, flipping a page in frustration, "I'm trying. I only recognize a few characters, so I'm missing quite a bit of the story."

"Let me see," he said, sitting beside her. Much to her surprise, Kakashi had snatched the book from her hands, closing it with a loud snap.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What's the deal?"

"Did you get this out of my pack?" he asked. She nodded, unsure of his odd behavior. "You don't need to read this," he said quickly, shoving the book back into his pack. "I'll get you better books."

She put her hands on her hips. "Then why are you reading them if they're not any good?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't like them," he insisted.

She frowned. "Fine." She looked at the fire, putting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. "Keep your porn away from me then. I don't need to read that garbage. It's just a bunch of unrealistic expectations anyway."

He frowned, but kept silent, attending to the fish. Once they finished their meal, they sat back by the fire as the night grew darker.

He was watching her quietly, as she looked up to the stars between the openings in the trees. "Can I ask you something?" he asked, his voice cutting over the noise of the chirping crickets and the river that flowed nearby.

"Depends on what it is," she replied, still staring up at the stars.

"Tell me about Abba," he said gently. "It seems easier for you to talk about him than Ryu."

She took a deep breath and sighed, taking a moment to think about her answer. "In short," she started, looking over to him, "he was the only father I ever knew. My earliest memories start with him finding me wandering in some burnt down village." She shrugged. "I don't know anything prior to that; whoever my real parents are, if I had any family, or even a life before Abba. He always told me he speculated they were killed during the war, but I have no memory so I assume he was right."

"How old were you?" he asked, poking a stick into the fire.

She thought for a second. "I think I was maybe ten? Fairly young. If anybody else had found me, I probably would have been sold to human traffickers. I was with him for about five years." Her voice trailed off, her face dropping quickly.

"What happened to him?" Kakashi asked softly after she hadn't said anything for a while.

"Abba's gone," she answered in a small voice. "He apparently died of some sickness that had been spreading around the area, but I think Shinjou had been slowly poisoning him with something. I took care of him until he died, so I had time to say my goodbyes to him."

"Is that another reason you want revenge against Shinjou? You think she murdered him?" Kakashi asked.

Nayamae nodded. "I _know_ she did. She murdered him to get rid of him to indirectly get rid of _me_. She didn't approve that he kept me around after he found me. And she didn't like Abba's competition against her authority. It's because of her that I got caught up with Orochimaru after Abba died." Briefly, she told him how Orochimaru had first approached her, asking her if she was the thieving kitsune he had heard about. "I also think Shinjou told him about me, but I'm not too sure on that one."

"That's a lot to speculate about one person," Kakashi told her, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"You don't believe me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, I do believe you. It's just a lot."

"You're telling me."

They were quiet again. Kakashi pulled out an empty scrap of paper, writing a message by the firelight. Nayamae watched over his shoulder curiously. As he wrote, he explained every character and what they meant. Eventually, Nayamae stood up and stretched.

"We should think about getting some sleep," she said, trying to suppress a yawn. "I can take first watch."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, waving her hand. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll wake you up if a few hours. Besides, if anybody is nearby, I'll sense them before they can get too close."

Kakashi had a weird feeling about letting her take first watch, but eventually decided he wouldn't have much of a choice either way. One of them was going to have to stay awake for one half of the night.

"Let me send this message to the Hokage first," he said, pulling a small scroll out of one of the pockets on his vest. Nayamae watched in amazement when a small dog wearing a Leaf headband and a blue vest popped up on the seal from the paper. "Ah, Pakkun! Good to see you again," Kakashi greeted.

"It has been a while," Pakkun said in a much deeper voice than Nayamae thought would come from such a small dog. He sniffed the air then looked directly at her. "A fox…?" he said, sounding confused.

"She's a friend, a kitsune," Kakashi told him, holding out the paper he had written on earlier, which was now folded and sealed. "Take this to the Hokage for me. Tell him we should be in Shinjou's territory by tomorrow."

"We'll be heading through the mountains in the North," Nayamae added before the dog could leave. "Shinjou's home is in the middle of the range."

"You're not planning for something to go wrong, are you?" Pakkun asked distrustingly.

"No," she replied sheepishly. "It's just a precaution…"

Pakkun huffed and took the paper from Kakashi. He gave another quick glance at Nayamae, then vanished with a small cloud of smoke.

"I didn't know you could summon dogs," Nayamae said.

"I have quite a few dogs actually," Kakashi replied, pulling a sleeping mat out of his pack and spreading it on the ground. "They're my ninken. I use them on special occasions to help me on missions. They're very skilled in combat and tracking."

"I've never seen you summon them before," she pointed out.

He shrugged. "I don't summon them unless I feel it's absolutely necessary."

"That's fair."

He finished setting up his sleeping mat and laid down to sleep. After what only seemed like a few minutes, Nayamae was already shaking his shoulder to wake him for his turn.

* * *

Just as the sun was beginning to peek through the trees, Nayamae was already awake before Kakashi could bother waking her.

"We need to move," she said urgently, hurriedly folding up her sleeping mat. "We're close enough to Shinjou's territory that we shouldn't stay in this area much longer."

Kakashi helped her clean their area, putting out the final embers of the fire. "Why didn't you tell me about this last night?" he asked.

"Because I didn't sense anybody nearby last night," she informed him. "Come on, we need to hurry."

Nayamae led Kakashi along the river's edge, only pausing for a few minutes to scarf down a quick breakfast. They continued to travel at a quickened pace until Nayamae finally slowed down to a stop.

"Where to now?" Kakashi asked, looking around. The river was long gone and the trees were getting thinner and far between. They were now standing at the bottom of a rocky mountainside.

"We go up," Nayamae answered him, taking a deep breath before starting up the mountain. Kakashi followed after her. A couple of hours later, they stopped for a quick break. "We're almost there. We've made better time than I thought," Nayamae told Kakashi, taking a seat on the rocky ground. Sweat was dripping down her face as she took a drink of water from a canteen. "Over that other mountain is Shinjou's home."

Kakashi took a drink from his own canteen as he viewed the land below. "Do you sense anybody nearby?" he asked, looking to her.

She shook her head before taking another sip of water. "If I did, I would let you know. Whoever it was behind us this morning must have lost track of us somehow." He nodded, looking back to the trees at the bottom of the mountain. "By the way," Nayamae began while closing her canteen, "who's Rin? You kept saying that name last night while you were sleeping. It seemed like you were having a bad dream."

Kakashi immediately looked at her instead of out towards the ground below. "She was a teammate of mine," he said bluntly, turning away from her. "I killed her."

Nayamae was silent, staring up at him. "Oh." Kakashi stared down at his right hand, clenching and unclenching his fist. "I'm so-"

"Don't. Don't say that." He wasn't looking at her.

"I was only trying to-" she started when she suddenly froze. She turned her voice to a whisper. "Kakashi, get away from the edge. Quickly! Hide!"

They hid behind some rocks that formed a small crevice in the mountain that was just large enough for them to squeeze into it uncomfortably. Several intense minutes passed until they heard groups of footsteps surrounding their hiding spot. Kakashi could feel Nayamae become increasingly tense beside him. Both of them quieted their breathing, not daring to move and accidentally make a sound. From their hiding spot, she could barely see through the entrance of the crevice.

"Now, I _know_ I heard somebody over here!" a man's voice said. Briefly, Nayamae could see a head with yellow hair, searching around the spot where she was just sitting. Slowly and carefully, Kakashi reached up to raise his headband to uncover his eye.

"They can't have gone far!" a woman's voice said. "Search thoroughly! Find them!" A group of voices shouted their compliance. Nayamae stiffened, suddenly gripping tightly to Kakashi. Her eyes were now wide with fear. _Shinjou._

He squeezed her hand gently, staring out the entrance. Neither of them made a sound. All of a sudden, the entrance was blocked and a much brighter light was shining in their eyes.

"Hey! In here! I found somebody!" a voice shouted. Hands reached in and dragged the two of them out of the crevice and pushed their faces into the dirt. Immediately their hands were tied behind their backs and they were forced to sit up. They confiscated of all their weapons and their packs were tossed aside after being emptied of their supplies.

"Who _dares_ trespass on my mountains?!" the woman's voice demanded, approaching them. Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi could see Nayamae shaking terribly. She kept her eyes to the ground as the woman came into view. She was much taller than Kakashi remembered seeing her in Nayamae's memories, but her cruel demeanor was definitely the same. Her long, dark hair was more gray now, and was braided down her back. The scar running through her face and neck had not aged as well as she had and was rather a horrid looking blemish on her skin. Her green eyes pierced through the two of them.

 _Shinjou._

* * *

 **Dun dun duuuuuuunnnn! What's going to happen next? Stick around for the next chapter to find out!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	18. Caught

Shinjou gasped slightly at the sight of the two of them. "A Hidden Leaf shinobi?" she questioned, looking at his headband which was still raised over his eye. "Kakashi of the Sharingan at that! Better cover up that eye of yours before you get any ideas." She snapped her fingers at the man standing behind him and immediately Kakashi couldn't see anything. He heard his headband fall to the ground as cloth was tied over his eyes.

"And… our favorite fox…" she drawled, smiling menacingly down at her. "My, my, Nayamae," she tsked. "You certainly _have_ mixed yourself up with the wrong crowd. I thought Akito was joking!" she laughed. Her smile quickly faded. "He told me you were trying to play some kind of spy for Konoha, but I didn't think you would actually be able to get him arrested." She looked down at Nayamae, who was trying very hard to control her trembling.

"Well?!" Shinjou bellowed angrily. "What have you got to say for yourself? Playing the lap dog to the Hokage and playing spy with one of their best shinobi?" Kakashi heard a loud slap beside him. Nayamae muttered something that he couldn't make out. "I should have killed you long ago," Shinjou gritted, "but today is not your lucky day to die just yet." She snapped her fingers again and Kakashi was pulled up to his feet and forced to walk forward.

They were pushed along in relative silence, with only Shinjou's men cracking the occasional inappropriate joke. Kakashi wasn't sure of the exact path they took, but knew they had passed through a small creek and covered several miles over the mountains. His cold and wet feet were numb by the time they had finally reached Shinjou's home. He guessed it was early evening when they arrived. From what sounded like a very large doorway being opened, he imagined the building from Nayamae's memories that looked like a dojo, with its high walls and beautifully shingled roofs. Gravel crunched beneath their feet and then solid wood.

"Take them downstairs. You know what to do with her, but just tie him up somewhere for now. Don't remove his blindfold," he heard Shinjou say. "I'll be down there soon enough."

"No!" Nayamae cried, breaking her silence while struggling to free herself as she was dragged down a hall. Kakashi was pushed after her. "No, please! Shinjou! Come on! Let's talk first! Shinjou!" It was useless. Her cries didn't stop the men from dragging them down a set of stairs and into a cold stone basement. He didn't recall ever seeing this part of the house in her memories.

The metal sound of chains scraping on stone floor became loud, but Kakashi could hardly hear anything else over Nayamae's terrified protests.

"Please!" she cried desperately, her voice becoming more and more frantic. "Please, I'll do anything! Don't put me in there! Don't put me in there!" Kakashi couldn't tell what was happening to her with his eyes covered. He only knew he had been sat in a rather uncomfortable chair and chained to it and was left alone.

"Hey, give me a hand over here!" one of the men shouted to whomever had tied Kakashi up.

"NO!" her protests grew louder and more animalistic. "NOO!"

Kakashi couldn't take her cries much longer. He was getting angrier with every sob. He couldn't tell what they were doing to her. Chains rattled and metal doors were locked. The men laughed at her as she thrashed around, making even more noise with her cries and the sounds of the metal restraints. She yelped, sounding very much like a fox.

"Quit your whining!" one of them shouted. "Animals like you are locked up in smaller cages than that! Be glad you have room to move your head around this time." The men laughed again as they walked away. A door somewhere far off was opened and then closed.

Even after the men had left, Nayamae was still making quite the racket. She still pleaded to be let out all while struggling against the restraints. Eventually she had exhausted herself enough that Kakashi could try speaking with her.

"Naya," he started and almost immediately she stopped moving as if she just realized he was nearby. "What did they do to you?" he asked. "I can't see anything with this blindfold over my eyes."

She whimpered, gasping in short and quick breaths. "Cage," she blurted as if that was all she could say through her panic. "Small."

"Calm down," he told her softly. "Deep breaths, it's okay now. It's just the two of us."

"Can't… breathe…" she replied.

"As deep of breaths as you can make then," he continued gently. "We need to figure a way out of this."

"No way… out…" she told him. "I can… hardly move… It's getting… smaller…! I'll be crushed!" She began to cry, tugging loudly at her chains and starting up her panic again. Kakashi tried to calm her down, but it took him a while to talk her down to a calmer state so she could think clearly.

"Tell me how you're restrained," he said. "If I can get free of my own chains, I may be able to help."

Between her shallow breathing she was able to describe her predicament. They had forced her to kneel in a small cage, bent over her lap with her arms chained behind her back. The chains were attached to the wall inside a prison cell.

"Why didn't you use your sharingan?!" she asked angrily once she finished her explanation. "You would have been able to take them all out!"

"We were extremely outnumbered!" he countered. "I didn't want to accidentally hurt you in the confusion of a fight! Besides, once you heard Shinjou's voice, all you did was cower. You would have been killed before you even knew what was happening."

Nayamae growled at him. "You don't know what that woman's done to me! You don't know _anything!_ " she spat.

"You're right, but right now, that doesn't matter and we need to _work together._ As far as we know, we could be dead before the night is over. The village probably won't know what's happened to us until it's too late. We need to act _now._ " He turned his head in the direction of her voice. "Are you with me?"

She thought for a moment. "Do you trust me?" she asked softly.

He was taken aback by her sudden question. "Yes," he decided.

She nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay, so then what's your escape plan?"

Kakashi also nodded, thinking rapidly. "Alright, Naya, listen to me. Focus your kitsunebi to your hands; try to generate as much heat as possible to melt the metal enough to bend it. You can slip your hands out after that."

"What?! Are you crazy? I can't get _that_ hot!" she half-shouted.

"Just try it!" he urged, with an annoyed huff. "We don't know how much time we have before somebody comes back! I know it's a long shot, but just try. In the meantime, I'm going to try to get out of my own chains. Work quickly!"

Kakashi had just begun to analyze where his restraints were holding him when they heard the door open and close. Light footsteps quickly approached them. Nayamae whimpered.

"Good to see they have you in our normal accommodations, Nayamae," Shinjou said, sounding please. She pulled a knife out of a sheath hanging from her thigh. "I hope you're comfortable." She smiled wickedly, opening the door to the cell. Nayamae tried to move as far away from Shinjou as possible as she moved closer to the cage. "Shh, it's alright," she assured her, lifting her chin to face her. "I'm not going to kill you now. I'm saving that pleasure for later when we have an audience." Shinjou smiled again and reached the knife between the bars of the cage, pressing it against Nayamae's cheek. Despite her fear, Nayamae growled deeply at her. In response, Shinjou swiped the knife across her cheek, leaving a deep and heavily bleeding cut. Nayamae hitched her breath in pain.

Shinjou stood, seemingly satisfied at the mark she made on Nayamae's face. "It was cruel of them to make you come after me," she said loud enough for Kakashi to hear very clearly. "They knew you weren't going to win. It's not your fault." She turned and left the cell, wiping the blood from the knife. "But that doesn't mean I won't kill you for coming back here," she added, walking towards Kakashi.

"Don't you touch him!" Nayamae shouted at her back. Blood dripped down her chin and onto the floor of the cage. She could already feel it healing, but talking opened the wound more. "Don't you _dare_ touch him!"

She stopped at turned back to her. "Don't touch him?" she questioned slyly.

"You hurt him, I will make sure you don't live to see the next day," Nayamae threatened.

Shinjou laughed heartily. "You are in _no_ position to be making threats to _me,_ fox," she said, standing behind Kakashi and pressing the knife against his throat. He hitched his breath, startled at her sudden threat. She got down closer to his face, still staring at Nayamae with a menacing smile and keeping the knife on his neck. "Is he your lover? Is that why you don't want me to touch him?" Nayamae's eyes flickered red, yet Shinjou saw it. "Oh? Does the real fox want to come out and play?" she teased with a laugh. She released him and put the knife back into its sheath. "It'll have to wait."

She unlocked his chains and forced him to stand. "We'll talk elsewhere," she said to him, leading him out of the stone cellar and up the stairs. Nayamae shouted obscenities at Shinjou as they left, her shouts being muffled behind the closed door.

"Much quieter," Shinjou commented casually.

She continued to lead Kakashi away from the cellar, and further into her home, eventually sitting him down on a soft cushion at a low table. He was surprised when his blindfold was removed, only to be retied over his left eye. His hands remained tied behind his back. The sliding paper doors were closed, but he could see outlined shadows from two men who guarded the door from outside. He guessed it was either late night or early morning. On the table a bowl of fruit sat between him and Shinjou. Two glasses and a small jug were in front of her.

"I don't want to risk being put under a genjutsu," Shinjou told him as she poured them shots of sake. "I hope you don't mind the precaution. Sake?" she offered. He stared at her silently. She nodded, taking a sip from her own cup. "That's right, you shinobi try to abstain from alcohol. My apologies."

"Why did you bring me in here?" he asked impatiently. "Are you wanting to negotiate something?"

She poured herself another drink. "Something like that," she replied. "It has nothing to do with the fox. She's been a nuisance ever since she showed up here." She shook her head. "No, I need something different from you." She downed another shot of sake before continuing. "I don't have any issues with your village, but it's only been recently that I've seen an increased amount of your shinobi in my territory. And then _you_ show up. I don't like it. Any particular reason I'm being targeted?" She looked at him expectantly.

Kakashi continued to stare at her silently, wondering if he should bother answering any of her questions at all. He didn't particularly appreciate her putting a knife to his throat, nor did he like how she treated Nayamae.

When he didn't reply, Shinjou set down her drink. "I have no quarrel with the Hidden Leaf, so why are _you_ here? Your Hokage wouldn't send one of his strongest shinobi to my home for no reason."

"We were here to survey the land and nothing more," Kakashi said, finally breaking his silence.

Shinjou didn't seem satisfied with that answer. He noted she was fingering the hilt of the knife on her thigh, but moved her hand back besides her glass on the table.

"Nothing more," she echoed thoughtfully. "Personally, Kakashi, I don't believe you. But since I have no intentions of making a _complete_ enemy of your village, I won't order my men to torture the information out of you. I'm not stupid." She stood, turning away from him to put the sake away in a small cupboard against the wall. "I run a business, Kakashi. I sell my products where there is demand. Your village has begun to demand a bigger supply from me."

"You're destroying our people and their livelihoods," he countered. "Your 'products' are killing people, Shinjou."

"I run a business," she repeated matter-of-factly. She still had her back to him, staring at a picture frame that sat on top of the cupboard. "What those people do with what they buy isn't my concern, as long as they continue to pay me the money."

Kakashi narrowed his eye, focusing on the photo in the frame. He could barely make out a head with short black hair. "Nayamae didn't kill Ryu," he said bluntly, assuming that's who was in the photograph she was staring at.

Shinjou froze, turning slowly back to him. Her eyes were flaring with anger. "What… did you say...?"

"Nayamae didn't kill Ryu," he repeated, a little louder. "Orochimaru killed your son."

Quicker than Kakashi had seen her move, she had flipped the table in front of him with a loud yell and held the tip of the knife under his chin. Hearing the noise from outside, several guards had opened the sliding doors to the room, their swords drawn.

"Choose your next words carefully," she gritted, seemingly unaware of the guards that had entered the room. "How would you know anything about my son?"

"I saw it in Nayamae's memories myself. Your anger should be towards Orochimaru, not the girl," Kakashi said calmly, glaring up at her with his one eye.

She met his glare with her own. Slowly, she lowered the knife from his throat. "Maybe so," she said, "but it'll be _me_ that will kill the both of you _myself_." She grabbed him by his arm, yanking him up from the cushion. The guards parted as she exited, dragging Kakashi behind her from the room. He nearly cried out in pain. She dragged him by his upper arm, his hands still tied together. He felt like his shoulder was becoming dislocated. She was much stronger than she looked.

Suddenly, she stopped walking, squeezing tighter onto his arm, her nails digging into his skin. "NO!" she yelled furiously. Kakashi glanced at what she was looking at. The door to the stone cellar was wide open, something he was sure she had shut when they had left an hour before. The metal lock had been melted off of the door.

"FIND HER!" Shinjou screamed to the men that had followed them. "FIND HER AND BRING HER TO ME!" Immediately, they all ran off, searching the grounds. She glared down at Kakashi. "I don't care if it brings war with your village," she told him harshly, "but I am killing you both and dumping your bodies at the Hokage's feet."

* * *

 **Things are only going to get more intense from here. What do you think will happen next?**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	19. Trust

It had been several hours and they still hadn't found Nayamae. Shinjou decided she didn't want to keep holding onto Kakashi herself and ordered some of her men to keep an eye on him.

"I'll make sure that your death is the last thing the fox sees before I kill her as well," Shinjou told him threateningly before he was dragged away once again.

Instead of taking him back down to the stone dungeon, he was tied to a supporting pole in a random room with one guard sitting across from him. From the other side of the paper doors, he could hear the occasional person running by, still in search of Nayamae. By now it was late morning. The guard watching him sat against the opposite supporting pole, noisily eating breakfast and slurping down a canteen of water. It wasn't until now that Kakashi realized how thirsty and hungry he was. He hadn't eaten or drunk anything since before they had been caught on the mountain. He shook his head, trying not to think of the smell wafting from the guard's food.

Several more hours passed by, turning into the afternoon. The guard was obviously just as bored as he was. There wasn't much for him to do just sitting there. He thought he dozed off a few times, but would awake with a start whenever he heard a loud noise.

The room itself was mostly bare with its paper walls and bamboo floor mats. Every so often the guard would stand and stretch his legs and open the door a crack to talk to somebody outside or to take lunch from them. Kakashi felt extremely stiff from sitting and having his arms behind him for so long. He wanted to stand, but more than anything wanted something to eat and drink. His mouth felt like cotton.

It was nearing the evening again now. Somebody had brought them a single lamp for the room, but it wasn't very bright. They still hadn't found the kitsune.

Kakashi was letting his mind wander. What if Nayamae escaped back to the village and was bringing back a rescue party? Or maybe on her way back to the village, she met the rescue party and was leading them here? He didn't quite know the likelihood of her actually doing that, but he allowed himself to imagine it anyway. He also thought she might have escaped and wasn't coming back for him. He wondered if his hunger and thirst would kill him before Shinjou would get the chance to.

"Do you trust me?" Nayamae's voice echoed softly in his head. He told her that he did, and now it was being tested. He was going to have to trust her.

He smiled slightly to himself, thinking of the melted metal on the door. She had taken his suggestion after all. He wondered how much of her kitsunebi she had to use in order to get the metal hot enough to not just bend, but to completely melt.

It was dark outside now. The guard had fallen asleep, his arms crossed over his chest and his head drooped heavily. Kakashi's head hung low, his chin resting on his chest, but he wasn't quite asleep.

He heard a faint drag from the paper door. He pulled his head up to look. By the faint light of the lamp, a black shadowed mass crawled into the room, shutting the door softly behind it. Kakashi blinked, unsure if he saw glowing red eyes coming from the mass. It moved behind the guard, putting a hand over his face and an arm around his neck, yanking him violently against the pole behind him. The guard's eyes were wide as he tried to breathe, his arms and legs flailing wildly as he tried to fight off his attacker. Kakashi would have thought to try a quieter attack with the noise the man was making, but no one came to his aid. After several intense seconds, the man went slack, slumping comically against the pole. Carefully, the attacker released him, guiding him to the floor so he wouldn't make any more loud noises.

The black shadow came from behind the guard, moving towards Kakashi. He had his suspicions when it came into the room, but as it moved closer to him, he was absolutely sure it was Nayamae. Once she was closer to the light, he noticed her eyes. They flickered between the normal sharp brown to the glowing red. He then noticed the sword hanging from her waist. It looked different than the one he had seen her carry before. It was longer, with a wider grip and a dark, glossy sheath. The katana hung from her waist by a red ribbon.

"Kakashi, are you alright?" she whispered, moving behind him to untie him from the pole. His aching muscles felt immediate relief.

"Naya! I'm fine. Do you-" Kakashi began to reply, but she had thrown her arms around his shoulders, embracing him tightly. He blinked again, surprised.

She let him go, holding him at arm's length. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "I'm just glad to see she hadn't killed you yet."

He shook his head. "No, not yet. Do you have any water? Or some food?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh, right!" She crawled back to the guard, stealing the canteen from his waist. "Here," she said, handing it to Kakashi who took it and drank greedily. "I have a little bit of food, but I'm afraid it may be a little crushed."

"I don't mind," he said. "Anything is fine at this point."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small paper package that looked like it had been refolded several times. "It's all I managed to steal from the kitchens. I had two, but I already ate mine."

Though it was far from any size meal that would be completely satisfying, Kakashi took and gratefully ate the rice ball anyway. "Thank you. Where have you been all this time?" he asked her between small bites.

She had tied the guard to the pole using Kakashi's bindings, coming back to his side of the room and sitting next to him. "I've been busy," she replied vaguely.

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Planning on rescuing you, of course," she said, smiling slightly. "After Shinjou took you, I decided your idea wasn't too bad after all. It took a lot out of me to get that metal hot enough to bend so I could escape. Thankfully, you were both gone for a while so I had plenty of time to escape."

"You're welcome, but where did you go?" he asked. "They've been looking for you since yesterday."

She put her finger to her lips, grinning widely. "I have my secret hiding spots around here that even Shinjou doesn't know about. I had to lay low in one of them to gather my strength back. I only woke up a few hours ago."

"But the guards and the heightened security?" he questioned. "How did you get past them? How did you know where to find me?"

"You forget I can sense people's chakra," she reminded him. "I avoided the guards and was trying to pinpoint where you were. Shinjou's compound is big enough that it was quite the challenge, but I managed just fine."

He nodded, finishing the riceball. "Where'd you get the sword?" he asked, reaching up behind his head to untie the cloth that was over his left eye.

She held it up. "It's Ryu's," she admitted. "I took this from a shrine Shinjou has for him. I didn't think he would mind me using it for protection."

"I don't think he'd mind at all," he agreed. They sat for a few more minutes, trying to plan the best way out.

"If I see her, I'm going to challenge her," Nayamae said determinedly, catching him off guard.

Kakashi was confused by what she meant. "Challenge her?"

"For her position. I'm allowed to challenge her to a fight, and if I win, I get everything she does," she explained.

"And if you don't win, you're dead," he stated with a frown. "We should just escape while we can and not worry about fighting for control."

"But if I do win, I can do what I want with her business and shut it down."

They argued back and forth for another minute or two, only quieting down when they heard somebody walk by. The guard was still out cold.

"We should go," Nayamae said once the coast was clear. "Can you stand?" she asked, holding her hand out to him.

"Yeah," he said, taking her hand to pull himself up.

She moved closer to the door, pausing to sense where any guards were. "We need to move quickly," she said, turning back to him. "Go now." She slid the door open, sprinting across an open courtyard to the other side. Kakashi was right on her heels, but wasn't expecting her to climb onto the roof from a gutter. She beckoned to him to hurry, helping him onto the roof.

Together, they quietly ran across the roofs of the separate buildings. Only a few times did they have to pause and hide on the opposite side to avoid being seen. Eventually, Nayamae stopped in the middle of a roof.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi whispered after nearly running into her. "Why'd you stop?"

"Up ahead," she whispered back. "Everyone is gathering in that courtyard. We should check it out." She started to move forward, but Kakashi held her back.

"Let's not," he said. "If everyone is going that way, I suggest we go the opposite way and _escape_."

"We should just take a peek and get out before it's over." Nayamae insisted. "Aren't you at least a bit curious to what's going on?"

"No, I'm not curious. If we go over there, someone is bound to either see us or hear us. We should _leave,_ " he continued, trying to keep her from moving forward.

" _Shinjou is over there._ " She stared intensely into Kakashi's eye. "I may have a chance to finally end this."

Kakashi stared back at her in almost disbelief. Was she trying to get herself killed? He soon realized she was going to go with or without him, but he wasn't going to leave her by herself. He gave in, swiftly following her towards the group gathering in a nearby courtyard.

Quietly, the pair laid down on the roof to peek over into the yard. Over fifty people had grouped in the area, leaving an empty space in the middle. Shinjou stood in the center, her arms crossed over her chest, looking impatient under the moonlight. The crowd parted as two men dragged another man into the crowd, unceremoniously dropping him in front of Shinjou. Kakashi recognized him as the guard who had been watching him all day.

The man bowed deeply to the ground, pleading with Shinjou. "Please! I was attacked!" he told her.

"You let the Sharingan user go! I imagine it was the fox who helped him escape, but you let her!" she said. "Why are you of any use to me if you can't even defend yourself?" She reached across her body and pulled out her sword, striking the guard across his neck. He fell to his knees, his hands grabbing his throat as blood poured from the wound. Shinjou grabbed his shoulder and stabbed the sword clean through him. With a disgusting thud, the man fell faceforward to the ground.

Shinjou looked to her men around her. "If that fox and Sharingan user aren't found within the next hour, I'm gutting all of you!"

Nayamae gritted her teeth and went to stand, but Kakashi pulled her back down, shaking his head vigorously. She pulled away from him and stood tall on the roof, looking down to the ground.

"SHINJOU!" she called loudly. Everybody stopped running and faced where the voice was coming from. Shinjou looked up to the roof in surprise. Kakashi covered his face with his hands, not believing she was actually going through with her challenge. "I challenge you!"

Shinjou paused, taking in her words, then began to laugh. The men around her laughed as well. "You _challenge_ me?" she questioned. "You won't win!"

"Then fight me and we'll find out!" Nayamae countered. "Or are you too coward to fight in front of your men?"

"Fine," Shinjou said, sheathing her sword. "I accept your challenge."

* * *

 **Oh, Naya... What have you gotten yourself into? Sorry for the short chapter, but I decided to leave the challenge for next chapter!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	20. Challenge!

**It's been a little while since I last updated! I haven't forgotten this story just gotten stupid busy. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Fine," Shinjou said, sheathing her sword. "I accept your challenge."_

Nayamae continued to stand on the roof, looking down at the courtyard below. Kakashi kept his face covered with his hands, not wanting to see what would happen next.

Shinjou crossed her arms, snarling up at Nayamae. "What are your conditions?" she asked. All of her men stood still, staring between the two women.

"A fight to the death," Nayamae said. "If I win, I control everything you own. That includes your home, your men, and your trades and anything else you may have. It'll belong to _me._ " Kakashi glanced up at her, peeking from behind his fingers. "If _you_ win, you get the satisfaction of killing a kitsune. And you keep control of everything you own. However, I ask for one last thing."

Shinjou snickered. "I like the idea of a _dead_ kitsune," she commented loudly. "What's your final condition?"

"If you win, the Leaf shinobi lives. You let him go back to his village _alive_ and stop trading within his village."

Kakashi removed his hands from his face, staring at her in mild shock. "Nayamae!" She ignored him.

Shinjou considered her conditions for a moment. "Fine," she agreed. "I promise I won't kill the Sharingan user. I accept your conditions. However, you can't use any of your fox fire. That's not exactly a _fair_ weapon, you agree?"

Nayamae frowned. "I wouldn't want to waste my fire on you anyway," she gritted. "Swords and fists is fine by me." She began to walk down the roof, but Kakashi's voice stopped her.

"How do you expect to win?" he asked, now standing. "Do you really think she'll let me go alive if you lose?"

She paused, breathing deeply. "Then fight your way out alive," she said without turning back to him. "There's no telling if she'll keep her word, but I also don't plan on losing."

"Not to be rude, but I've literally never seen you win in a fight before." Kakashi told her, almost wishing he could take back his words as soon as he said them. She was stung, but she jumped down to the courtyard before he could say anything else.

"This should be quick," Shinjou said with a sneer as she unsheathed her sword.

Nayamae had just unsheathed her own sword quick enough to block Shinjou from cutting her throat. She had barely given her any time to defend herself before attacking her. Though Shinjou was older, she certainly didn't act like her age was affecting her ability to fight. She was able to block and parry just as quickly as Nayamae, but she was more methodical.

She chased the kitsune throughout the courtyard, her men running to get out of their way. They came at each other intensely. Kakashi was surprised how well Nayamae was doing, but it was only the beginning of their battle. Their fight continued for several minutes, until both women had paused to catch their breath.

"Your swordsmanship has gotten dull," Shinjou commented.

Nayamae snickered. "It's a blade I'm not exactly used to using," she replied, showing the older woman the dark sheath.

Shinjou's eyes expressed confusion, then widened as recognition dawned on her face. "HOW _DARE_ YOU DESECRATE RYU'S SHRINE!" she shrieked, coming at Nayamae with an increased speed.

Kakashi could tell Nayamae had shown her the blade on purpose. Shinjou wasn't moving as tactically as before, instead moving rashly, which soon earned her a wound across her arm. This made her even angrier. Nayamae was getting too confident. He could see her face was cracked into a small smile, but it didn't last long.

Nayamae suddenly tripped, falling backwards to the ground. Shinjou immediately took advantage of this by stabbing her middle as she fell. The kitsune gasped, grasping at the blade. Shinjou smiled evilly, twisting the blade and driving it further into her. Nayamae cried out in pain, yelping loudly when the sword was mercilessly pulled out. Blood pooled around her fingers as she tried to stop the bleeding. She could feel it was healing already, but she didn't have time to worry about her injury. She still needed to defend herself from getting killed. Her eyes went red and her skin felt hot. She could feel the fire right at her fingertips, just waiting to burst out.

Shinjou then did something unexpected. She didn't finish killing her off like Nayamae thought she would, but instead began to run towards where Kakashi was standing on the roof. She wasn't sure what she was doing at first, but quickly realized Shinjou had changed her target. With a lot of difficulty, she pulled herself up, her head swirling, and began chasing after her, but it was not a very fast pursuit. Everything around her slowed down. Kakashi opened his sharingan as lightning charged in his hand. Shinjou came at him with a loud yell, attempting to swipe her blade at his chest.

Just before he could defend himself against her sword, Nayamae had jumped onto Shinjou's back from behind, pulling her back and holding her sword under her chin. The older woman scrambled to get the younger off of her, while struggling to keep her balance on the roof.

"Your fight is with me!" Nayamae gritted, pulling upwards with her sword.

Shinjou gasped, suddenly losing her balance on the roof. With a shout, they both rolled down the slope, falling hard to the ground below.

Kakashi went to the edge of the roof. "Nayamae!" he shouted after her.

With a still bleeding wound, the kitsune struggled to get up from beside Shinjou and grabbed her sword. "Your fight is with me!" Nayamae repeated, pushing the tip of her sword under Shinjou's chin. "I told you you wouldn't live to see the next day if you touched him," she snarled, bunching the front of her shirt into the fist of her empty hand.

Shinjou was barely moving, but her eyes were fixed on Nayamae's. The fall from the roof was painful enough to nearly paralyze her. Nayamae raised her sword, preparing to drive the blade into Shinjou's chest, but she hesitated. She looked as though she was struggling to bring the sword down.

The older woman smiled, showing bloody teeth. "You… you're not strong enough… to kill me…" she gasped out.

Nayamae growled at her, holding tighter to the front of her shirt. "You don't know me," she countered, shaking her. "You don't scare me ANYMORE!" With a final loud cry, she plunged the sword into Shinjou's heart.

Her cry echoed and faded. The whole courtyard became silent. Shinjou's men stood frozen, staring down at them. Kakashi jumped down from the roof, landing next to Nayamae. He put his hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him. He took the bloody sword out of her hand and cleaned it before putting it back in its sheath.

"It's over," he told her softly. "You won."

Nayamae nodded slowly in reply. "I did." Kakashi helped her stand and she turned to face everyone in the courtyard. They all stared at her in anticipation, waiting for her to speak.

She took a deep breath. "Take anything of value out of here, money, food, and supplies. Take Shinjou's body and place it on her bed. Burn this place down with her in it," she ordered. "I don't actually care if any of you come with me or not, but I won't be continuing her trades. Those end tonight." Her voice sounded authoritative, but Kakashi could tell she didn't quite believe her position yet.

The men stared at her, but a few gradually moved to follow her orders, moving behind her to pick up Shinjou's body. She turned to Kakashi. "Let's get out of here," she said quietly, reaching for his hand.

A half hour later, Kakashi, Nayamae and what remained of Shijou's men were watching the compound burn to the ground. It's high walls and beautifully shingled roofs were lapped up in bright flames. The intense heat could be felt even from their far away spot. Nayamae stood with her arms crossed, staring blankly at the burning building. The wound on her torso was almost fully healed.

Kakashi looked at her. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked. "You're in charge of a lot of people now."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," she replied without looking at him. "I've told the ones that stayed that I don't plan on making any drugs or participating in weapons trades. They seem to be okay with that."

"Then what _do_ you plan to do?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Not sure yet." She turned to face him. "I want to help undo the damage Shinjou's caused. There's a village on the other side of these mountains that are heavily dependent on the drugs she made. I want to help them first."

Kakashi nodded. "You won't come back to the village with me first?"

She shook her head. "I can't. I'm sorry, Kakashi. Maybe we'll meet up again someday." She looked beyond the darkness of the trees behind him. "Besides, your village is coming to you anyway. I'll see you around, Kakashi," she said, gently kissing him on his cheek. Nayamae yelled out an order and immediately everyone began to follow her deeper into the mountains around Shinjou's burning compound.

Kakashi stayed where he stood, watching them all leave. Within minutes, he heard the barks of his ninken, Pakkun leading the way. Other shinobi followed close behind, including Guy and Asuma. Pakkun got to him first, but had hardly said a word before Guy had greeted Kakashi with heavy sobs and a tight embrace.

"KAKASHIIIIII!" Guy sobbed. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"We saw the flames and got here as soon as we could," Pakkun told him once Guy had let him go so he could breathe. The other ninja worked to put out the fire so it wouldn't catch fire to the few trees nearby. Kakashi sat down, suddenly feeling very tired. His ninken surrounded him, smelling him and nudging his hands with their noses. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Shinjou's dead," he replied tiredly. "I'll be better once we're back in the village."

"We came after you when Pakkun wasn't summoned a second time," Asuma said as he approached where Kakashi was sitting. "Oh! You probably don't want to lose this. Found this on the side of a mountain on the way here," he said, holding out something in his hand for Kakashi to take. It was his headband.

"Thank you," he said, taking it and tying it around his head.

Pakkun looked around. "Where's the fox?" he asked, sniffing the air. "She was here."

"Nayamae's gone," he replied, covering his eye with his headband. "I'll tell you about it later."

Asuma and Guy frowned. "We'll head out first thing tomorrow morning," Asuma said. "Get some rest, Kakashi. Leave this all to us."

Kakashi nodded in reply, leaning against his largest dog, Buru, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

 _A few days after getting rescued, Konoha Hospital._

"I'm glad to hear about Shinjou, but I'm sorry about Nayamae," Hiruzen Sarutobi said once Kakashi had finished telling him everything that happened. "I know you had grown fond of her."

Kakashi lay in a hospital bed, feeling much better physically, but felt a pang in his chest at the Hokage's words. "I don't think she would have liked coming back here with me anyway," he replied. "Staying in one spot doesn't seem to suit her."

Hiruzen laughed lightly. "No, but if she did stay, she might get herself into less trouble."

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

A soft knock sounded at the door. Kyrie's head appeared from around the door. "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt."

"Don't worry about it," he said, getting up from his chair. "We were done here." He turned back to Kakashi. "Get some good rest, Kakashi. Take all the time you need."

Kyrie held the door open for Hiruzen as he left the room. She let the door shut softly behind him as she took his seat beside Kakashi's bed.

Kyrie was silent, sadly staring down at her lap. "She's gone isn't she?" she asked, sounding as though she was about to start crying.

"Nayamae's not dead, Kyrie, if that's what you're thinking," Kakashi said reassuringly.

She looked up at him, moving her glasses so she could wipe the tears from her eyes. "Is she okay? I heard she challenged Shinjou and won!"

He nodded. "Barely." Briefly, he told her what happened.

"Well, is she going to come back to Konoha?" Kyrie asked hopefully. "I hope I haven't seen her for the last time."

He shrugged again. "I honestly don't know." The pang in his chest returned. He wasn't sure what the feeling meant, but he just knew he didn't like the idea of not seeing Nayamae for a long time either.

"Well, I better let you rest. Iruka-sensei told me that they should have another group of students graduating soon." She stood and adjusted the blankets around his feet. "Having new students should keep you well occupied!"

"If they pass my test there shouldn't be any issues," he replied nonchalantly.

Kyrie put her hands on her hips. "Aren't you being too hard with that bell test of yours?"

"Absolutely not."

* * *

 **I could not get this chapter right for nothing! Battle scenes are hard! But I think I did a semi-decent job on this one and did some good character building for our leading fox-lady. Also that was the second reason I took so long to update for this chapter.**

 **Tell me what you think in a review!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	21. Reunited

**I totally meant to update this before the madness of the holidays, but that obviously didn't happen.**

 **Hey, if you've read this story up to this point, thanks so much for keeping up with it! I really appreciate it. Really. :)**

* * *

 _12 Years after the Nine Tails Attack, 23 years of age._

Nayamae walked quietly, her small group following behind her, chatting amongst each other as they walked through the woods. They were making good progress to the next village which had recently been overrun by a greedy businessman named Gato and his cronies. Nayamae was sure they would reach the area by sunset, but wasn't quite sure how she and her group were going to be able to help the villagers of the Land of the Waves with Gato in control. She would have to change her usual tactics.

Even two years after Shinjou's death, and Nayamae's subsequent overtaking of her position, the influence of Shinjou's drug trades continued through other people who had worked with her previously. Nayamae hadn't realized how influential her position was. She had made quite the name for herself as she traveled, threatening drug lords to give over their profits and stop their trades. She almost never kept any of the money for herself and her men, unless it was absolutely necessary. Most of the time, the money would go back into helping the community that had been dismantled by the drug trades. On occasion, villagers would recognize her before she even entered their territory, begging for help.

Though her followers looked up to her considerably, Nayamae kept many secrets from them. She never told them she could hardly read, nor did she tell them that she was dying. When she had to fight, she never used her kitsunebi, relying only on her sword. They knew she was a kitsune, but had no idea she was getting weaker every day. They followed her anyway, believing her deeds were worth copying, especially with all the good she caused. As much as she wanted to continue aiding those who needed it, she was tired and looked forward to taking a break in her travels, but wasn't sure when the opportunity would arise.

She heard someone run up beside her. He was much taller than her, with darker skin and unusually light hair. He was the only person in her command that had any idea of her personal struggles. "Boss," Hiro greeted. "Do you have a plan for taking care of Gato?" he asked. "He's not exactly like some of the others we've gotten rid of."

She continued to walk, keeping her gaze ahead. "No, you're right. He's not. I was just thinking on what we could do, but haven't come up with anything solid yet."

Hiro nodded, glancing back at the others behind him. "It's a poor village. Think they'll be able to accommodate all of us?" There was nearly twenty of them.

Nayamae shrugged. "If not, we'll manage." She wasn't up for much conversation, even though she needed to discuss a plan with Hiro and the others. "We'll worry about that when we get to the Land of the Waves." He continued to walk beside her in silence.

Suddenly, Nayamae got a strange feeling. She glanced around, looking for what she may be sensing. Hiro noticed her tense up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "I sense people ahead of us a ways, but I can't tell if they're all friendly." She turned to face the rest of her men. "Hold here for a few minutes. Keep a hand on your swords," she ordered. She turned to Hiro. "Come with me." Together, Nayamae and Hiro ran ahead of the group towards where she sensed people. As they went, a heavy fog began to swirl around them, even though the weather had been perfect all day.

Finally, Nayamae stopped them near the edge of a lake, hiding behind some trees. On the lake she could make out four figures. One was a very tall man, beside him was a ball of water with another man inside. In front of them were two boys, one blond and one with black hair. She sensed behind them on the opposite shore stood an older man and a young girl. It took her a moment, but she finally recognized who was in the ball of water.

 _Kakashi!_

"Should we help them?" Hiro asked.

Nayamae shook her head. "Hang on. Let's see what's going on first." She wasn't about to tell Hiro she knew the man in the ball of water. She hadn't met very many people who were fans of the Leaf Village's Copy ninja, and since Hiro was one of them, she kept her feelings about him to herself. Oddly enough, she also felt like she knew the blond kid too, or at least had seen him somewhere a long time ago.

From their hiding spot, they watched the battle continue. The battle was intense and exciting. The boys were excellent partners, even with their different styles. Nayamae assumed the children were Kakashi's students. She wondered how he had let himself get into a predicament to make his young students save him.

With the help of his students, the tall man was forced to let Kakashi out of the water prison. From then on, it was Kakashi versus the tall man. He copied every single one of his jutsus, flooding the area around them. Nayamae and Hiro had to climb their trees just to keep from drowning. When the water cleared, it was easy to see who had won. The fog disappeared, giving them a better picture of what was happening. The tall man was dead, and another person appeared, collected his body and left with it. The children and the old man gathered together where Kakashi was kneeling on the ground.

Nayamae jumped down from the tree. "Hiro, go back to the group and continue to the village. I will meet with you all there as soon as I can."

Hiro nodded, an obvious question forming in his eyes. "Right." He jumped down and ran the way they had come.

Nayamae ran out into the clearing, coming across to the other side of the lake. She approached the group slowly, unsure of how to introduce herself.

The black haired boy noticed her first, immediately drawing a kunai and going into a fighting stance. "Who are you?" he demanded. The others turned to face where he was looking.

Nayamae put her hands up. "I mean no harm," she said. "I saw the battle just now. Are you all okay?" She looked them all over. The boys seemed fine, and so did the old man. The pink haired girl was kneeling down beside her sensei, looking unsure of her.

"Your sensei," she said, nodding her head towards him, "he alright?"

The blond boy suddenly spoke up. "What do you care about our sensei?! Who _are_ you, lady?!" he shouted. "You don't know him!"

Nayamae laughed. "I know him a little better than you think I do."

"Naruto, calm down. You too, Sasuke," Kakashi's tired voice sounded over them. She felt her heart skip a beat at his voice. "It's alright, Sakura. She's an old friend." The black haired boy, Sasuke, slowly lowered his kunai, but still kept his eyes fixed on her. Naruto didn't seem convinced, and instead continued to scowl at her, but kept quiet. Sakura looked from between Kakashi and the stranger.

The children parted from in front of the old man and their teacher. Nayamae could feel her heart begin to race as they regarded each other. He was obviously tired from using his sharingan and was bleeding from a few cuts. His silver hair was still wet from his battle, but had just started to dry. His shoulders seemed broader than when she had last seen him, but his face and demeanor seemed to be the same.

Kakashi looked Nayamae up and down as well, more than surprised to see her in the middle of their journey. Her raven black hair fell freely past her hips. Ryu's old sword hung around her waist with a thick red ribbon, tying her pants up around her exposed midriff. She had an air of authority around her that hadn't been there two years before. He hadn't heard anything about her since he had last seen her walking away in the mountains.

"What do you want? Did you come to help?" the old man asked, butting in front of them.

Nayamae nodded. "I have medical aid if you need it. It also looks like you may need an extra body to carry him," she said, pointing to Kakashi. "He's used too much of his sharingan."

The children looked at each other, then suspiciously back at her. "Please," Sakura said, "we don't know who you are."

"I'm Nayamae," she said, extending her hand out to the old man. "Do you live near here?"

He took and shook her hand. "Tazuna. I live in the Land of the Waves. It's not much further from here."

"Perfect! I was heading there myself."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing there?"

"I sent my men ahead of me once I saw your battle. I'm planning on meeting them there," she explained.

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed loudly. "Your men, huh? Didn't think we could have used their help?"

"Naruto-!" Kakashi started, but Nayamae beat him to it.

"Only a few of my men are trained to use the jutsus you shinobi are taught. And even then, they aren't much of a match against the skills you already have. We're wandering samurai, I suppose you could say. Our swords wouldn't have been much help against the kind of enemy you were fighting." She smiled. "Besides, you were handling it pretty well, I think," she added with a wink.

Naruto blushed brightly and turned away from her.

"We should go," Kakashi said finally. "There's no telling if more enemies like Zabuza are going to show up."

Tazuna nodded. "I agree. I'd rather not be out here much longer, being so close to home."

Together, Tazuna and Nayamae managed to help Kakashi up, putting an arm over each shoulder, and they continued on to the Land of the Waves. The three children followed behind them, but not close enough they could be overheard.

"Who _is_ she?" Sasuke whispered. "I've never seen her before." He was confused by her sudden appearance and extreme willingness to help them.

"She makes my stomach feel funny," Naruto said with a grimace.

Sakura gave him a look. "That's weird, Naruto." She gasped suddenly. "You don't suppose she's Kakashi-sensei's _ex-girlfriend_ , do you?" she asked excitedly.

"So what?" Naruto groaned, putting his hands behind his head.

"Well," she huffed, "think about it! She was really concerned for him when she showed up, wasn't she? _And_ didn't she say she said she knew sensei a little better than we think she did?"

"That doesn't necessarily mean that she's an old _girlfriend_ ," said Sasuke with a shrug. "She may just be an old friend like sensei said."

She frowned. "You two _obviously_ didn't see how they were looking at each other! Typical boys!"

"Hey, are you kids keeping up?!" Tazuna suddenly yelled at them. "At the rate you're walking, we'll never reach my home!"

The children quieted, walking a little faster, but still kept their distance.

"At any rate," Sakura whispered mostly to herself, " _I_ think she's pretty."

* * *

Nayamae helped Tazuna get Kakashi and his students to the village and settled in Tazuna's home. She briefly met his daughter and grandson, Tsunami and Inari, and then quickly left to find where Hiro and the rest of her men were. Eventually, she found them in a run-down inn near the center of town.

Hiro was waiting for her outside the inn. "Boss," he greeted as she approached. "We're set to stay here for as long as we need. The innkeeper was glad to have some business."

"Good," she said. "As long as we keep clean. I don't want a repeat from the Hidden Sand." Nayamae shook her head and breathed a heavy sigh at the memory. "Have you already paid for tonight?"

He nodded. "I assumed we were staying for at least a week, so I paid in advance, plus a little extra."

She nodded in approval. "Excellent. Thank you, Hiro." She followed him into the inn and was met with the loud noise of her men enjoying a meal in a large dining room. A loud bout of laughter erupted across the lively dining hall. They sat down across from each other at the only empty table left.

"Do you have a plan yet?" Hiro asked.

She nodded. "For now just gather intel on Gato and what he's been doing here. We can figure it out from there."

Hiro picked at his fingernails. "What were you up to this afternoon?" he asked curiously. "Did you help those people who were being attacked?"

"Yes, they were Leaf shinobi, protecting a bridge builder on his way home. Their jonin was injured," she replied. "I think that bridge builder has something to do with Gato. I'm planning on going to see them again tomorrow to check in on them. But now," she said standing, "I'm going to bed. Keep these hooligans under control," she ordered with a laugh. "Don't want the innkeeper to kick us out."

The next morning, Nayamae gathered everyone in the dining hall and gave her orders for the day. They would all be making observations and talking with the locals to get a feel about what's been going on. When they finished, they would all come together and share what they had learned. She hoped this gathering of information would be useful.

While her men scattered around the village, Nayamae went straight to Tazuna's house. His daughter answered the door.

"The boys are out training, father and the girl went shopping for dinner, and their sensei is in there resting," Tsunami explained. "Did you want to talk with him? I can see if he's awake?"

"Please." Nayamae watched her open the door to the bedroom and then turned back to her.

"He's awake," she said, moving to let her pass.

Nayamae walked into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Kakashi painfully sat up from his mat on the floor. She stayed by the door, not moving any closer, but regarded him softly. He stared back, waiting for her to break the silence.

"It's been a while, Kakashi," she said finally.

"It has," he replied. More silence passed between them. He gestured to a green pillow beside the mat. "Want to sit?"

Hesitantly, she moved from the door and kneeled beside him, carefully laying her sword beside her on the floor. She sat on her knees, her back straight. "How are you feeling?" she asked after a moment. "That battle looked pretty rough yesterday."

Kakashi nodded, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "He took us by surprise. I'll be better after tomorrow." He looked at her, taking in her appearance. He had been hoping to find her again while on a mission, but he didn't think it would actually happen, especially on one with his students.

The silence between them was unnerving. Nayamae looked down at her lap. "I should let you rest," she said reaching for her sword. "I'll come back when you're feeling better." She went to stand, but Kakashi spoke, stopping her.

"Stay," he requested. "Talk to me." She sat back down. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

She opened her mouth, unsure of where to start. "I'm here to investigate a man named Gato," she said finally. "He has a hold on this village and I plan on making sure he lets go of it. Whether I have to force his hand or not."

"The man you met yesterday, Tazuna, is a bridge builder here. His current project is what's stirring up trouble. If that bridge is built, this village won't have to rely on Gato and he obviously doesn't want that."

"What do you know about him?" she asked.

"About as much as you do. The man we fought yesterday works for him. I hadn't realized how intense the situation here was."

"Well, my men and I are here to help." She explained her plan to him, letting him know they were staying in a nearby hotel.

"Thank you. I'll let you know if we need anything," Kakashi said.

They were both quiet again. Nayamae sensed Tsunami pass by the bedroom door, pausing for a moment to listen.

"Your students," Nayamae started, "they seem capable for their age."

Kakashi chuckled lightly. "They're all a handful in one way or another, but I honestly think they have good potential to be excellent shinobi."

She smiled. "They do seem to admire you."

He chuckled again. "I don't see why they would." He paused, sitting up a little straighter. "How's your kitsunebi?"

She unconsciously put her hand on her chest. "Not good," she admitted quietly. "I haven't used it since we were at Shinjou's compound, but I can tell it's still fading."

He nodded. "You should come back with us," he suggested. "Kyrie would love to see you. She may be able to-"

"I don't doubt she would like to see me, Kakashi, but there's nothing that we can do about my kitsunebi," she said firmly. "Orochimaru has done his damage to me and there's nothing we can do."

Kakashi frowned. "You don't even want to try?"

"There's no point," she replied with a shrug. "After we help this village, I plan on leaving my men to my second in command, Hiro. He's more than capable of taking over for me." She looked down at her hands. "I just want to die in peace."

"No."

She looked up at him. "No? You don't want me to die peacefully?"

He stared at her intensely, the blanket clenched in his fists. "I don't want you to die at all."

She scoffed. "Bold of you to think you have any say in the matter." She grabbed her sword and stood up. "I'll let you get some rest now. Let me know if you and your students need anything." Without another word, she left Tazuna's house, leaving Kakashi behind.

* * *

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 **Happy New Year!**


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